Pulsed doppler analysis of human fetal blood flow

Echocardiographic imaging techniques have been applied successfully for the diagnosis of structural heart disease in the second- and third-trimester human fetus. These studies have also provided structural information that has increased our understanding of normal fetal cardiac development, had have furthered our concepts of the pathophysiology of congenital heart disease. The application of pulsed Doppler technology for examination of the fetal cardiovascular system offers the promise of increasing our understanding of fetal cardiovascular development, by providing information concerning directional blood flow, as well as estimates of volume flow within the fetus. It is the purpose of this report to review the experience that has been amassed in the application of pulsed Doppler technology for the analysis of blood flow within the human fetus