Thanks for an excellent presentation. I have a query. In general we perform fetal echocardiography between 18 - 22 weeks ( Barring some exceptions and Early fetal echo ). As you mentioned in your presentation STIC study can be performed between 19 to 30 weeks. Is it possible to do a routine fetal echo between 12 - 30 weeks with help of STIC ??
Thank you very much for your comments and query. Yes, a routine fetal echo can certainly be performed using STIC (between 12-30 weeks), as long as the STIC volume is of high and appropriate quality. Indeed, 24-28 weeks is often an optimal gestational age to obtain fetal cardiac views after a STIC volume has been obtained. In the first trimester, however, challenges of performing 4D sonography with STIC include frequent fetal motion (thus, motion artifacts may be introduced into the STIC volume) and the small size of cardiac structures (so, the heart may be more challenging to examine). This is why we prefer the second/third trimesters. For further information on how to acquire cardiac volumes to examine the fetal heart, please go to the PRB website, where links to our scientific publications on this subject are freely available to all. Hope these comments are helpful. prb.med.wayne.edu/research-divisions/fetal-intelligent-navigation-echocardiography-fine/
