Diagnostic problems in recognizing structural pathology of the heart during the prenatal period

The aim of our study was to analyse the results of echocardiographic examinations of 28 fetuses with structural heart abnormalities referred for echocardiographic examination from January 1996 to May 2001 along with their follow-up. Fetal heart anomalies were diagnosed in 2.1% of all of the examined fetuses (28/1319). Among 28 cases of structural anomalies, there were 23 cases of heart defects, 4 cases of cardiomyopathy, and one case of intracardiac tumors. In 5 cases, heart defects were accompanied by arrhythmias while in 2 cases, heart defects were accompanied by congestive heart failure. Extracardiac malformations coexisted with heart defects in 11 fetuses. Eight newborns were operated shortly after birth. The mortality rate in the examined group was 64%.