Morphometric data concerning the great arterial trunks and their branches

Álvarez, Luis; Aránega, Amelia; Saucedo, Roberto; Contreras, JoséA.; López, Francisca; Aránega, Amelia

doi:10.1016/0167-5273(90)90215-q

Cited by 19 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 20 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Such predominance of the ascending aorta is in agreement with observations by Angelini et al (1988) who described in older fetuses that the descending aorta was 20% smaller than the ascending aorta. Alvarez et al (1987Alvarez et al ( , 1990) also found the same trend in completely developed fetuses, though no differences in ratios were provided in their work.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 62%

“…It is particularly noteworthy that such progress has occurred despite a vacuum in anatomic details concerning the fetal heart and correlation of this information to prenatal echocardiographic data (De la Cruz et al, 1960;Schulz and Giordano, 1962;Van Meurs et al, 1977;Allan et al, 1980Allan et al, , 1984Allan et al, , 1997Alvarez et al, 1987Alvarez et al, , 1990Alvarez et al, , 1991Sun et al, 1999). It was this knowledge gap that led us to perform the present study using fetal hearts between the 13th and 20th weeks of gestation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 81%

“…In published articles describing the morphometry of the fetal human heart, little attention has been paid to the preservation and general features of the fetuses and there have been difficulties determining an accurate fetal age. This may be due to the fact that in many studies, fetal age was based on menstrual age, which in most instances, does not accurately correlate with the morphological age of the fetus examined (Alvarez et al, 1987(Alvarez et al, , 1990(Alvarez et al, , 1991Angelini et al, 1988;Elejalde and de Elejalde, 1997). In this study, the dimensions of the various segments of the great arteries are presented in percentiles per gestation week to establish normality limits and to facilitate use of the information for clinical application.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…At present, there are only a few published studies that report direct morphometric data on the fetal heart and these are rather incomplete (De la Cruz et al, 1960;Sinha et al, 1969;Van Meurs et al, 1977;Alvarez et al, 1987Alvarez et al, , 1990Alvarez et al, , 1991. In light of the current state of knowledge in this field, it seemed of scientific interest to perform a quantitative analysis of normal fetal hearts to improve our knowledge and understanding of heart anatomy during prenatal development and to provide accurate reference information for fetal echocardiography.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Morphometric study of the human fetal heart I. Arterial segment

et al. 2005

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This study measured the dimensions of the great arteries of normal human fetal hearts at an early fetal stage (between 13-20 weeks post-fertilization) in 103 fetuses obtained by necropsy. Different segments of the aorta and the pulmonary artery were dissected and their external diameters measured under stereoscopic magnification. All segments showed linear growth during this period of fetal development. Ranges in median values of external diameters associated with the pulmonary artery were: 2.1-4.2 mm for the valve ring; 2.2-4.2 mm for the main pulmonary trunk; 1.2-2.5 mm for the right pulmonary artery; 0.9-2.18 mm for the left pulmonary artery; and 4.0-8.0 mm for the length of the main pulmonary trunk. Similarly, in the aorta, median diameters were: 2.1-4.2 mm for the ascending aorta; 1.92-3.8 mm for the aortic arch; 1.45-3.0 mm for the aortic isthmus; and 1.75 -3.35 mm for the descending aorta. The diameter of the ductus arteriosus ranged between 1.2-2.45 mm. The growth rates of the pulmonary artery and the aorta were similar. The diameter of the ascending aorta was found to be greater than that of the descending aorta and the right pulmonary artery was wider than the left pulmonary artery. In addition, the magnitude of growth in the various aortic segments was different and the ratios obtained between the aortic isthmus and the ascending and descending aortae, ranged between 0.66-0.93. This study provides important morphometric reference information concerning the dimensions and growth of the great arteries of the fetal heart and has clinical application in pediatric cardiac surgery and echocardiography.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 62%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 81%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Morphometric study of the human fetal heart I. Arterial segment

et al. 2005

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…2). This is a markedly decreased dimension related to gestational age [7][8][9], Color Doppler imaging showed acceleration of blood flow, aliasing and flow disturbance in the aortic end of the ductus ( fig. 3).…”

Section: Case Reportmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prenatal Diagnosis of Idopathic Stenosis of the Ductus arteriosus Associated with Fetal Atrial Flutter

Mielke

Steil²,

Gonser³

1997

Fetal Diagn Ther

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Antenatal stenosis or closure of the ductus arteriosus unrelated to either congenital heart defects or prostaglandin inhibitors is considered to be uncommon, but may result in congestive heart failure, hydrops fetalis, and perinatal death. We report a case of idiopathic ductal stenosis detected prenatally by two-dimensional and Doppler echocardiography in a fetus presenting atrial flutter and right atrial dilatation at 31 weeks of gestation. Prenatal treatment with digoxin and verapamil resulted in conversion to sinus rhythm. The fetus was closely monitored. Congestive heart failure did not develop, and the fetus was delivered spontaneously in good condition at 39 weeks of gestation. In case of ductal stenosis, the potential risk of congestive heart failure must be considered, and maternal administration of drugs with constrictive effects on the ductus arteriosus, as indomethacin or betamethasone, should be avoided.

show abstract

Morphometric evaluation of the cardiac ventricular capacity of anencephalic fetuses

et al. 2004

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Anencephaly occurs in 1:1,000 to 1:20,000 infants who are potential donors in pediatric heart transplantation, so it is important to define any morphologic differences between the anencephalic and normal heart in newborns. The dimensions of the heart in anencephalics, however, may differ. For example, the absence of cerebral tissue in anencephalic fetuses may decrease the heart load resulting in a smaller heart. The position of the heart in the thoracic cavity of an anencephalic fetus may affect the size and shape of the heart. This study compares the ventricular volumes and the inlet and outlet lengths of right and left ventricles in 11 normal and 11 anencephalic fetuses of gestational ages between 27 and 35 weeks. There was no statistically significant difference between the right ventricular volumes of normal and anencephalic fetuses, however, the difference between the left ventricular volumes was found to be almost statistically significant (P = 0.07). No statistically significant difference was found between the right and left ventricular volumes of normal fetuses; in anencephalic fetuses left ventricular volumes were found to be significantly smaller than right ventricular volumes (P = 0.05). The outlet length of the right ventricle and the inlet and outlet lengths of left ventricle in anencephalic fetuses were found to be short in comparison with those of normal fetuses (P = 0.01, P = 0.008, P = 0.01). It is proposed that anencephalics, because of these morphologic differences, should be reconsidered as possible donors for heart transplantation.

show abstract

Morphometric data concerning the great arterial trunks and their branches

Cited by 19 publications

References 20 publications

Morphometric study of the human fetal heart I. Arterial segment

Morphometric study of the human fetal heart I. Arterial segment

Prenatal Diagnosis of Idopathic Stenosis of the Ductus arteriosus Associated with Fetal Atrial Flutter

Morphometric evaluation of the cardiac ventricular capacity of anencephalic fetuses

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About