Fetal cardiac changes due to ductal constriction by maternal ingestion of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs were studied morphologically in near-term rats as an animal model, and results were compared with values of control 1 (C1, twenty-first day) and control 2 (C2, twenty-second day). The fetal ductus was constricted (-70%) (p less than 0.05) by maternal administration of 10 mg/kg indometh...

Noncompaction of the ventricular myocardium is a rare congenital cardiomyopathy resulting from an arrest in normal endomyocardial embryogenesis. This disease is characterized by numerous and prominent trabeculations and deep intertrabecular recesses. It may be isolated or associated with other congenital heart diseases. The disorder is clinically accompanied by depressed ventricular function, s...

INTRODUCTION Hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS) is a congenital condition with an underdeveloped left ventricle (LV) that provides inadequate systemic blood flow postnatally. The development of HLHS is postulated to be due to altered biomechanical stimuli during gestation. Predicting LV size at birth using mid-gestation fetal echocardiography is a clinical challenge critical to prognostic c...

background: longer survival after the total repair of the tetralogy of fallot increases the importance of late complications such as right ventricular dysfunction. this is a prospective study of the right ventricular function in totally corrected tetralogy of fallot patients versus healthy children. methods: thirty-two healthy children were prospectively compared with 30 totally corrected tetra...

The importance of managing fetal arrhythmia has increased over the past three decades. Although most fetal arrhythmias are benign, some types cause fetal hydrops and can lead to fetal death. With the aim of improving the outcome in such cases, various studies for prenatal diagnosis and perinatal management have been published. Detailed analysis of the type of arrhythmia in utero is possible usi...

results of the 41 patients with dcm, echocardiography examination revealed 11 patients (27%) without mitral regurgitation and 12 (29%) with mild, 11 (27%) with moderate, and seven (17%) with severe mitral regurgitation. all of the morphological and functional parameters of left ventricle, atrium and mitral valve in dcm patients were greater than those in healthy subjects (all p < 0.05), except ...

BACKGROUND Myocardial dysfunction occurs in a variety of fetal disorders. Findings from adult cardiology, where n-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (nt-proBNP) is an established biomarker of left ventricular dysfunction have been extended to fetal life. Since fetal blood sampling is technically challenging we investigated amniotic fluid nt-proBNP for its suitability to diagnose fetal myoc...