Relationship between congenital heart disease in fetal echocardiography and high Nuchal Translucency size in fetal ultrasound

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between congenital heart disease in fetal echocardiography with high NT size in fetal ultrasound in mothers referring to Hazrat Masoumeh Hospital in 2019.

In this analytical study, information of all pregnant women who underwent ultrasound screening in the first trimester of pregnancy and their NT size was determined, as well as information from fetal echocardiographic results in the next stage. Fetal echocardiography was extracted from the files and then the relationship between cardiovascular abnormalities with NT size and variables such as birth, weight, gestational age and sex in these mothers were checked and examined. Finally, the relationship between congenital heart defects and NT size was investigated using t-test.

The mean size of NT in 152 neonates without cardiovascular disease was 1.67. 0.3 and this value was 0.5 ± 1.86 mm in 40 neonates with cardiovascular disease. Also, a statistically significant relationship was found between NT size and cardiovascular disease in neonates (P = 0.00). There was also a statistically significant relationship between neonatal gender (P = 0.71), maternal age (P = 0.88), between number of pregnancies (P = 0.26), NT size (P = 0.76), type of pregnancy (P = 0.63), gestational age (P = 0.4), and NT size was not found on ultrasound.

Fetal echocardiography is a non-invasive method for early detection of congenital heart disease that is suitable not only in high-risk pregnancies but also in low-risk pregnancies. Increased NT size is also associated with cardiovascular disease in infants.