Statistical Analysis of Fetal Echocardiography Clinic at Fetal Care Unit Ain Shams Maternity Hospital over a 12-month period

Congenital Heart Disease (CHD) is defined as an abnormal structure or cardio-circulatory function that occurs from birth, even if it was diagnosed later in life (Friedman, 1997). It differs in severity, starting from communications between cavities that regress spontaneously up to major malformations that may need many interventions, surgical or catheterization. It can lead to intrauterine, childhood or adulthood death (Go et al., 2013). A contemporary definition of critical CHD is one which requires urgent intervention/treatment in the first 24 h of life to prevent death. Such cardiac intervention may be not only life saving for the infant but also decrease subsequent morbidity (Donofrio et al., 2015). CHDs are one of the most common forms of congenital anomalies found in humans. Their approximate incidence is about 6 in 1,000 live births and about 8 to 10 in 1,000 pregnancies (Rodger, 2010). The World Health Organization (WHO) stated that cardiac defects account for 42% of infant deaths and have become the main cause of infant mortality (Rosano et al., 2000). The first experience with visualization of the fetal heart was reported in 1972 by Winsberg (Winsberg,1972). Since then, improvements in two-dimensional image resolution and the implementation of Doppler techniques have made it possible to examine the human fetal heart without invasion and to detect normal and abnormal cardiovascular physiology (Reed, 1989). To date, nearly all forms of structural CHD have been determined in utero using echocardiographic techniques. The large collective experience with fetal echocardiography (FE) has lead to valuable information about the presentation of heart disease in utero, the non-invasive detection of cardiac defects in the fetus, and the indications and limitations of FE. Therefore, the cardiologist now is capable of extending the care of the child with cardiac disease to include the fetus, allowing in utero diagnosis of cardiovascular disease and, sometimes, providing fetal therapy for certain disease states (Snider et al., 1997)