Tomographic US spots ventricular septal defect

Tomographic ultrasound imaging on 4D volumes of fetal chest obtained with spatiotemporal image correlation and color Doppler shows good retrieval of diagnostic cardiac planes in fetuses with ventricular septal defects, according to an Italian study.

Investigators retrospectively evaluated eight fetuses with ventricular septal defects (single in seven and double in one) between 20 and 33 weeks gestation. They found that all of the defects were correctly identified with interslice distance in the tomographic ultrasound imaging function ranging from 0.8 to 2 mm without the need to further manipulate the volume. The researchers say the findings may improve diagnostic accuracy for this condition. The study was reported in July in the Journal of Ultrasound in Medicine.