Fetal echocardiography: the identification of two of the pulmonary veins from the four-chamber view during the second trimester of pregnancy.

Identification of two of the pulmonary veins as they enter the left atrium is important to the diagnosis of the visceroatrial situs for fetuses with normal and abnormal echocardiographic findings. In this study, we investigated the ability to demonstrate these veins in 734 fetuses varying in gestational age from 13 to 21 weeks. Transvaginal and transabdominal B-mode ultrasound and color flow Doppler were used for the examination. With the use of the transvaginal route, the highest visualization rate, 85-95%, was achieved in fetuses of 14-15 weeks of gestation. With the use of the transabdominal route, the highest visualization rate, 95-97%, was achieved in fetuses of 20-21 weeks of gestation. This examination enabled the correct diagnosis to be made of complex cardiac anomaly.Visualization of the pulmonary veins with B-mode ultrasound aided by color flow Doppler can be accomplished in the majority of fetuses, while the four-chamber view is studied. Copyright 1994 International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology