BACKGROUND: Fetal echocardiography can accurately diagnose critical congenital heart disease prenatally, but relies on referrals from abnormalities identified on routine obstetrical ultrasounds. Critical congenital heart disease that is frequently missed due to inadequate outflow tract imaging includes anomalies such as truncus arteriosus, double outlet right ventricle, transposition of the great arteries, tetralogy of Fallot, pulmonary stenosis, and aortic stenosis.
OBJECTIVE: This study evaluated the prenatal detection rate of critical outflow tract anomalies in a single urban pediatric hospital before and after \"AIUM Practice Guideline for the Performance of Obstetric Ultrasound Examinations,\" which incorporated outflow tract imaging.
METHODS: Infants with outflow tract anomalies who required cardiac catheterization and/or surgical procedure(s) in the first 3 months of life were retrospectively identified. This study evaluated two time periods; pre-guidelines from June 2010 to May 2013 and post-guidelines from January 2015 to June 2016. June 2013-December 2014 was excluded as a theoretical period necessary for obstetrical practices to implement the revised guidelines.
RESULTS: Overall, prenatal diagnosis occurred in 55% of infants with critical outflow tract anomalies; of the three most common defects, prenatal diagnosis occurred in 53% of D-transposition of the great arteries, 63% of tetralogy of Fallot, and 80% of double outlet right ventricle patients. Pre-guidelines, prenatal diagnosis occurred in 52% (52 of 102) infants with critical outflow tract anomalies requiring early cardiac intervention. Post-guidelines, prenatal diagnosis occurred in 61% (33 of 54) infants, not significantly different than the prenatal detection rate pre-guidelines (P = .31).
CONCLUSIONS: Despite revised obstetrical guidelines highlighting the importance of outflow tract imaging, referrals and prenatal diagnosis of these types of critical congenital heart disease remain low. Education of obstetrical sonographers and practitioners who perform fetal anatomic screening is vital to increase referrals and prenatal detection of critical outflow tract anomalies.

OBJECTIVE: Dextro-transposition of the great arteries (d-TGA) is one of the most common critical neonatal heart defects, with a low detection rate antenatally. We sought to evaluate trends in the prenatal detection of d-TGA with or without ventricular septal defect (VSD) in Alberta over the past 13 years, examining the potential impact of ultrasound guidelines incorporating screening of cardiac outflow tracts, updated in 2009-2010 and in 2013, and factors affecting detection of the condition.
METHODS: All fetuses and neonates with d-TGA, with or without VSD, encountered between 2003 and 2015 in the province of Alberta, were identified retrospectively. Clinical records including obstetric ultrasound reports were reviewed. Pregnancy outcome, common referral indications and associated maternal and fetal pathology in affected pregnancies were assessed.
RESULTS: From 2003 to 2015, 127 cases with d-TGA were encountered in Alberta, of which 47 (37%) were detected prenatally. Prenatal detection improved over the study period, from 14% in 2003-2010, to 50% in 2011-2013, and to 77% in 2014-2015. Of the 47 fetuses with a prenatal diagnosis of d-TGA, an indication for fetal echocardiography included abnormal or poorly visualized cardiac outflows with normal four-chamber view in 46 (98%). Comorbidities were identified in 12 mothers, only five of which represented an additional reason for fetal echocardiography referral, and four fetuses had extracardiac pathology.
CONCLUSIONS: Substantial improvement in the prenatal detection of d-TGA has been observed in Alberta over the past few years, owing to improved screening of cardiac outflow tracts on routine obstetric ultrasound examination in otherwise healthy pregnancies, and has been temporally associated with updated obstetric ultrasound guidelines suggesting that these contributed to optimized screening of affected pregnancies. Copyright © 2017 ISUOG. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Objective: We sought to examine the concordance of prenatally diagnosed congenital cardiac disease with postnatal echocardiography.Study design: Patients who underwent fetal echocardiograms performed by pediatric cardiologists at a single referral center from January to December 2014 were reviewed. Fetal echocardiography exams were performed in accordance with guidelines by the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine (AIUM) and the American Heart Association (AHA) guidelines (2013 and 2014, respectively). The concordance of prenatal diagnosis was compared to postnatal echocardiograms.Result: One hundred and six patients were included. Overall, the prenatal diagnosis precisely matched the postnatal diagnosis in 69.8%, minor discrepancies were seen in 14.2% and major differences were seen in 16% of cases. Three cases with major differences resulted in a more guarded postnatal prognosis; all three were fetuses with complex disease where the additional finding of total anomalous pulmonary venous return (TAPVR) was missed.Conclusion: Fetal echocardiograms performed in our specialized fetal cardiology program are in high agreement with postnatal diagnosis of congenital cardiac disease. A worse postnatal prognosis is uncommon. Emphasis on pulmonary venous imaging in complex congenital heart disease is vital.