Abstract
Pathological heart rhythm disturbances in the fetus are uncommon, however, being able to correctly diagnose the type of arrhythmia and instigate the appropriate treatment is crucial for a good fetal outcome. In contrast to postnatal life, the diagnosis is usually made using ultrasound rather than electrocardiographic techniques. Tachycardias, bradycardias and irregular fetal heart rhythms are discussed including the approach to diagnosis and management.
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Atrial extrasystoles (atrial ectopic beats) (MP4 3904 kb)
Identification of supraventricular tachycardia using M Mode. The sample line is placed to ensure that it passes through atrial and ventricular tissue (MP4 2287 kb)
Supraventricular tachycardia with hydrops. Bilateral pleural effusions are seen. The atrial and ventricular rates are identical on the M-mode (MP4 468 kb)
Atrial flutter. The atrial rate is much faster than the ventricles (MP4 6016 kb)
Fetus with ventricular tachycardia. The ventricular rate is faster than the atrial rate (MP4 338 kb)
Demonstration of M mode to assess the atrial and ventricular rate simultaneously in the context of complete heart block. The M Mode cursor is aligned almost perpendicular to the atrial wall and the ventricle. The lower portion of the M-mode trace shows the regular atrial trace and the upper portion the slower ventricular rate (MP4 1397 kb)
Complete heart block due to maternal anti-Ro antibodies. There is good ventricular function and no effusions are evident (MP4 1500 kb)
Complete heart block due to maternal anti-Ro antibodies. This is seen in association with a pericardial effusion and widespread echogenicity of the heart at the crux, mitral valve and ventricular septum (MP4 1886 kb)
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Vigneswaran, T., Simpson, J. (2018). Fetal Arrhythmias. In: Simpson, J., Zidere, V., Miller, O.I. (eds) Fetal Cardiology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-77461-9_11
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-77461-9_11
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-77460-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-77461-9
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