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Slow flow HD and traditional CDFI technologies in identifying pulmonary veins in the first trimester

  • Maternal-Fetal Medicine
  • Published:
Archives of Gynecology and Obstetrics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Objective

This study aims to assess the feasibility and effectiveness of color doppler flow imaging (CDFI) technology and the Slow Flow HD imaging technique in identifying fetal pulmonary veins (PVs) in the first trimester (11–13 + 6 weeks), and further explore the factors affecting fetal pulmonary vein identification in early pregnancy.

Methods

Echocardiography and scanning of PVs were performed in 240 normal singleton fetuses in early pregnancy by using CDFI and slow flow HD techniques, to compare the ability of two methods to identify the PVs. Slow Flow HD technology was used to further investigate the difference of PVs identification at different gestational ages [group I (11–11 + 6 weeks), group II (12–12 + 6 weeks), group III (13–13 + 6 weeks)] and with different maternal body mass indices (BMI) (≥ 25 and < 25). In 31 cases of 240 fetuses, transvaginal ultrasonography was added due to maternal habitus or significant retroversion of the uterus, and the difference in PVs identification between transabdominal and transvaginal examination was analyzed.

Results

Successful PVs identification rates via CDFI and Slow Flow HD were 32.0% and 88.3%, respectively (p < 0.05). The identification rate of at least one and two pulmonary veins in Slow Flow HD was 88.3% and 76.2%, and all four pulmonary veins in 11.6% (p < 0.05). The identification rate of group I, II and III were 76.4%, 88.9% and 96.0%, respectively. The identification rate was 45.1% in the transabdominal ultrasound group and 83.8% in the transvaginal ultrasound group. The identification rate was 62.5% in the BMI ≥ 25 group and 94.7% in the BMI < 25 group (p < 0.05).

Conclusions

Slow Flow HD can detect PVs in early pregnancy more often than using CDFI. Slow Flow HD is a feasible and effective imaging technique for evaluating PVs in early pregnancy.

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Data availability

The data used to support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon request.

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Acknowledgements

We are particularly grateful to the “Key Laboratory of Birth Defect Prevention and Genetic Medicine of Shandong Health Commission” for assisting in this process.

Funding

This study was not funded.

Author information

Author notes

  1. **g Liu and Dequan Liu contributed equally to this work and should be considered co-first authors.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departments of Ultrasound, Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital of Shandong Province, No. 238, **gshi East Road, Lixia District, **an, 250000, Shandong Province, China

    **g Liu, Dequan Liu, Hong Yin, Yanjie Wang & Ge Zhang

  2. Department of Ultrasound, The First Affiliated Hospital of Shandong First Medical University, No. 16766, **gshi Road, Lixia District, **an, 250014, Shandong Province, China

    Bei Wang

  3. Department of Emergency, Shandong Provincial Rehabilitation Hospital, **an, 250109, China

    Lingqiang Ran

  4. Departments of Ultrasound, **an Third People’s Hospital, **an, 250132, China

    Shulin Wang

  5. Department of Ultrasound, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, **an, 250001, China

    Fang Chen

  6. Department of Key Laboratory of Birth Defect Prevention and Genetic Medicine of Shandong Health Commission, Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital of Shandong Province, **an, 250000, China

    Dongyi Yu

Authors
  1. **g Liu
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  7. Shulin Wang
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Contributions

BW and HY designed the research methods. JL and DL participated in data collection and analyzed the data. FC and GZ analysis and interpretation of results. JL and LR drafted the manuscript. YW, SW and DY revised the manuscript. All authors approved the version to be released and agreed to be responsible for all aspects of the work.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Hong Yin or Bei Wang.

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Conflicts of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Ethics approval and consent to participate

Our research protocol was also approved by the Ethics Committee and Regulatory Authorities of the Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital of Shandong Province, ensuring the ethical and regulatory compliance of our study.

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Liu, J., Liu, D., Yin, H. et al. Slow flow HD and traditional CDFI technologies in identifying pulmonary veins in the first trimester. Arch Gynecol Obstet (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00404-023-07352-7

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