Journal of Ultrasound in Medicine, Vol 4, Issue 7 335-341, Copyright © 1985 by American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine
The random measurement of the transverse diameter of the fetal heart: a potential source of error
G. R. DeVore and L. D. Platt
In a recent report it was suggested that the transverse diameter of the
fetal heart measured randomly during the cardiac cycle from the real-time
image was useful in predicting congenital heart disease (Jeanty P, Romero
R, Cantraine F, et al: Fetal cardiac dimensions: a potential tool for the
diagnosis of congenital heart disease. J Ultrasound Med 3:359, 1984).
Comparing the above approach with M-mode measurements at end-diastole and
end-systole suggests that random measurement of the transverse diameter is
not appropriate for fetal cardiovascular evaluation because it could
predict over 40 per cent of normal fetuses to have an "abnormally"
increased cardiac dimension.
