Increased fetal nuchal translucency is associated with major cardiac defects

Specialist fetal echocardiography at around 20 weeks of gestation can identify most of the major congenital cardiac defects, but the challenge in prenatal diagnosis is to identify those high risk pregnancies for referral to specialist centres. There is a strong association between cardiac defects and subcutaneous oedema in the nuchal region of fetuses at 10-14 weeks of gestation; this can be visualised by ultrasonography as nuchal translucency. On p 81 Hyett et al report the results of an ultrasound study that shows that increased nuchal translucency thickness at 10-14 weeks of gestation identifies the majority of fetuses with major defects of the heart and great arteries.


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Using fetal nuchal translucency to screen for major congenital cardiac defects at 10-14 weeks of gestation: population based cohort study

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