Are there limitations of fetal echocardiography?
Some heart abnormalities are not detectable prenatally even with a detailed expert examination. These tend to be minor defects, such as small holes in the heart, or mild valve abnormalities. In addition, some cardiac defects do not become evident until after birth. The fetal echocardiogram focuses on the heart primarily and may not show defects in other parts of the fetus. Doppler Ultrasound Doppler flow is a type of ultrasound that uses sound waves to measure the flow of blood through a blood vessel. Waveforms of the blood flow are shown on the ultrasound screen. Doppler flow studies may be used to assess blood flow in the umbilical blood vein and arteries, fetal brain, and fetal heart. Doppler flow is sometimes called Doppler velocimetry. A Doppler flow study is often used when an unborn baby has intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR), which means the unborn baby is smaller than normal for his/her gestational age. An unborn born baby with IUGR does not necessarily have a birth defect
