J Cardiovasc Imaging.  2022 Apr;30(2):125-134. 10.4250/jcvi.2021.0170.

Fetal Interventricular Septum Volume Evaluated by Three-Dimensional Ultrasound Using Spatiotemporal Image Correlation and Virtual Organ Computer-Aided Analysis in Fetuses From Pre-Gestational Diabetes Mellitus Pregnant Women

• Bravo-Valenzuela NJ
• Peixoto AB
• Mattar R
• Júnior EA

• KMID: 2529377
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4250/jcvi.2021.0170

Abstract

BACKGROUND
To assess the interventricular septum (IVS) volume of fetuses from pregestational diabetes mellitus (DM) pregnant women by 3-dimensional ultrasound using spatiotemporal image correlation (STIC) and virtual organ computer-aided analysis (VOCAL) methods.
METHODS
This was a prospective cross-sectional study of 45 fetuses from pre-gestational DM and 45 fetuses from healthy pregnant women (controls). Only singleton pregnancies between 20 and 34 + 6 weeks of gestation were included. The fetal IVS volumes were obtained off-line using STIC and VOCAL methods. To analyze differences among variables, the Student’s t-test and Mann-Whitney U test were used. The correlation among continuous variables was determine using Spearman’s correlation test (r).
RESULTS
The median of fetal IVS volume was significantly higher in pre-gestational DM than in healthy pregnant women (0.3 cm³ vs. 0.2 cm³ , p = 0.032). A strong positive correlation was observed between fetal IVS volume and gestational age at the time of ultrasound examination (r = 0.75, R² = 0.48, p < 0.0001) and between fetal IVS volume and estimated fetal weight (r = 0.63, R² = 0.37, p < 0.0001). No significant correlation was noted between fetal IVS volume and glycated hemoglobin levels (r = −0.16, R² = 0.01, p = 0.540) in the pre-gestational DM pregnant women.
CONCLUSIONS
Significant differences were observed in fetal IVS volumes between pregestational and healthy mothers, with higher values in the fetuses of pre-gestational DM pregnant women.

Keyword

Fetus; Heart; Cardiac septum; Diabetes mellitus; Three-dimensional image