Camille Noël1, Marie-Hélène Gagnon2, Mikhail-Paul Cardinal1, Olivier Guertin1, Antoine Déry1, Cassandre Têtu2, Alain Vanasse3, Marie-Ève Roy-Lacroix4, Thomas G Poder5, Ariane J Marelli6, Tiscar Cavallé-Garrido7, Laurence Vaujois8, Jean-Luc Bigras9, Frédéric Dallaire10. 1. Division of Pediatric and Fetal Cardiology, Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine and Heath Sciences, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC; Centre de Recherche du Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Sherbrooke, Centre Intégré Universitaire de Santé et de Services Sociaux de l'Estrie - Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC. 2. Department of Pediatrics, Montréal Children's Hospital, McGill University, Montréal, QC. 3. Centre de Recherche du Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Sherbrooke, Centre Intégré Universitaire de Santé et de Services Sociaux de l'Estrie - Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC; Department of Family Medicine and Emergency Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Heath Sciences, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC. 4. Centre de Recherche du Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Sherbrooke, Centre Intégré Universitaire de Santé et de Services Sociaux de l'Estrie - Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC; Division of Fetal-Maternal Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Centre Intégré Universitaire de Santé et de Services Sociaux de l'Estrie - Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Sherbrooke, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC. 5. Centre de Recherche du Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Sherbrooke, Centre Intégré Universitaire de Santé et de Services Sociaux de l'Estrie - Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC; Department of Family Medicine and Emergency Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Heath Sciences, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC; Unité D'évaluation des Technologies et des Modes d'Intervention en Santé, Centre Intégré Universitaire de Santé et de Services Sociaux de l'Estrie - Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Sherbrooke Sherbrooke, QC. 6. MAUDE Unit (McGill Adult Unit for Congenital Heart Disease Excellence), McGill University, Montréal, QC. 7. Division of Pediatric Cardiology, Montréal Children's Hospital, McGill University, Montréal, QC. 8. Division of Pediatric and Congenital Cardiology, Department of Pediatrics, Laval University Hospital, Faculty of Medicine, Laval University, Québec City, QC. 9. Department of Pediatric Cardiology, University Hospital Sainte-Justine, University of Montréal, Montréal, QC. 10. Division of Pediatric and Fetal Cardiology, Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine and Heath Sciences, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC; Centre de Recherche du Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Sherbrooke, Centre Intégré Universitaire de Santé et de Services Sociaux de l'Estrie - Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC. Electronic address: frederic.a.dallaire@usherbrooke.ca.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Prenatal detection of congenital heart diseases (CHD) decreases morbidity and cost. To improve detections rates, most physicians refer pregnant women with high-risk pregnancies to fetal cardiologists even when there is no suspicion of CHD at the second trimester screening. This paper presents the rationale and detailed method of the Fetal Cardiac Registry of Québec to Improve Resource Utilization in Fetal Cardiology (FREQUENCY) study. The overall objective is to assess the impact of second trimester ultrasound screening (U/S) and referral pattern in fetal cardiology on detection rates, health care costs, and resource utilization, as well as perinatal morbidity and mortality. METHODS: This multicentre retrospective population-based cohort study will link fetal echocardiography data from all centres performing fetal echocardiography in Québec with administrative health care data. This data linking will allow the determination of a true denominator (all women in Québec who underwent second trimester U/S) with complete follow-up of up to 2 years for offspring. This protocol meets Canadian Task Force Classification II-2. RESULTS: The study investigators have collected and cleaned fetal echocardiography data for 24 259 eligible pregnancies referred to fetal cardiology. These data will be matched to approximately 860 000 pregnancies between 2007 and 2015. CONCLUSION: The results of the FREQUENCY study will shed light on the impact of the current prenatal CHD screening strategy in Canada.
OBJECTIVE: Prenatal detection of congenital heart diseases (CHD) decreases morbidity and cost. To improve detections rates, most physicians refer pregnant women with high-risk pregnancies to fetal cardiologists even when there is no suspicion of CHD at the second trimester screening. This paper presents the rationale and detailed method of the Fetal Cardiac Registry of Québec to Improve Resource Utilization in Fetal Cardiology (FREQUENCY) study. The overall objective is to assess the impact of second trimester ultrasound screening (U/S) and referral pattern in fetal cardiology on detection rates, health care costs, and resource utilization, as well as perinatal morbidity and mortality. METHODS: This multicentre retrospective population-based cohort study will link fetal echocardiography data from all centres performing fetal echocardiography in Québec with administrative health care data. This data linking will allow the determination of a true denominator (all women in Québec who underwent second trimester U/S) with complete follow-up of up to 2 years for offspring. This protocol meets Canadian Task Force Classification II-2. RESULTS: The study investigators have collected and cleaned fetal echocardiography data for 24 259 eligible pregnancies referred to fetal cardiology. These data will be matched to approximately 860 000 pregnancies between 2007 and 2015. CONCLUSION: The results of the FREQUENCY study will shed light on the impact of the current prenatal CHD screening strategy in Canada.