Fetal Cardiac Disorder

Each year world-wide, 2.5 million fetuses die unexpectedly in the last half of pregnancy, 25,000 in the United States, making fetal demise ten-times more common than Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. This study will apply a novel type of non-invasive monitoring, called fetal magnetocardiography (fMCG) used thus far to successfully evaluate fetal arrhythmias, in order to discover potential hidden electrophysiologic abnormalities that could lead to fetal demise in five high-risk pregnancy conditions associated with fetal demise.

Pulmonary atresia (PA)/critical stenosis (CS) with intact ventricular septum (PA/CS-IVS) is a rare congenital heart disease (CHD), that presents heterogeneously. Prognosis is conditioned by the possibility of achieving a primary repair with biventricular circulation (BV) or a one-and-a-half ventricle solution vs. a palliative approach bound to a univentricular (UV) circulation in which both survival and quality of life are significantly impaired. Predicting UV circulation prenatally is still a challenge. The aim of this study is: 1/ to evaluate the natural history of the disease and develop a prognostic model for the prediction of transplantation-free survival with a biventricular or a one-and-a-half repair at 2 years postnatal age 2/ To develop a model to predict the risk of right ventricle dependent coronary circulation 3/ To evaluate prenatal and postnatal outcomes in non-intervened fetuses with a confirmed postnatal diagnosis of PA-CS/IVS including Intrauterine death, neonatal/Infant death, number of required postnatal procedures, need for oxygen support, need for cardiac transplantation

In one of the most severe congenital heart defects, hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS), the left ventricle is underdeveloped and the prognosis is worse than in most other heart defects. The underdevelopment can occur gradually during fetal growth caused by a narrowing of the aortic valve. At some international centers, such fetuses are treated with a balloon dilation of the narrowed valve, but there is no scientifically sound evidence that this treatment is effective. The aim of this study is: 1/ to evaluate whether balloon dilation during the fetal period of a narrowed aortic valve can reduce the risk of the left ventricle becoming underdeveloped and the baby being born with a so-called univentricular heart (HLHS); 2/ to investigate whether such treatment improves the prognosis for this group of children with a very complex and severe heart defect and 3/ to also describe side effects and risks in fetuses and mothers of the fetal procedure.