Prenatal diagnosis of structural cardiac defects.

Prenatal diagnosis of congenital heart defects has been possible now for over 25 years. This ability has extended from a few specialists to being within the scope of any sonographer engaged in routine obstetric evaluation of the low-risk patient. However, the detection rate is widely varied. The recognition of major structural heart disease in fetal life has important implications for the child's future, so further efforts should be made to improve the success in diagnosis. (c) 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc.