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This article discusses the prediction of symptoms and evaluation of surgical indications for double aortic arch-associated vascular rings based on tracheal morphology. The study included 19 patients diagnosed with this condition, and their medical information, including postnatal contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) images, was analyzed. The results showed that some cases of double aortic arch/vascular ring do not require surgery, and a tracheal area ratio of >0.5 may be a criterion for a non-operative policy. This research suggests the need to re-examine the treatment strategy for this condition. [Extracted from the article]

Objective: To investigate the criteria, based on fetal TR waveforms in late gestation, to predict biventricular circulation (BV) after birth in cases of tricuspid valve dysplasia (TVD) or Ebstein's anomaly diagnosed during the fetal period. Methods: We included 35 consecutive cases diagnosed with TVD or Ebstein's anomaly during the fetal period between January 2008 and December 2021 at Kanagawa Children's Medical Center, Kanagawa, Japan. The maximum velocity and change in pressure over time of tricuspid regurgitation (TR) jet (dP/dt), estimated using TR waveforms obtained during the late‐gestation period (gestational age ≥ 28 weeks), were collected from patient records. dP/dt was calculated by dividing the change in estimated right ventricular pressure obtained using Bernoulli's principle by the time taken for the TR maximum velocity to change from one‐third to two‐thirds of its peak value. The outcome was divided into four categories: BV, single ventricular circulation, neonatal death and fetal death. Patients with BV were included in the BV group, while patients with single ventricular circulation, neonatal death or fetal death were included in the non‐BV (NBV) group. Results: Overall, 19 and 16 patients were included in the BV and NBV groups, respectively. The median TR maximum velocity was 3.3 (range, 2.4–3.6) m/s in the BV group and 1.9 (range, 1.0–3.3) m/s in the NBV group. There were no cases of postnatal BV in fetuses with TR maximum velocity < 2.4 m/s; cases with TR maximum velocity of 2.4–3.3 m/s were observed in both BV and NBV groups. Receiver‐operating‐characteristics‐curve analysis was performed on the 11 patients in the BV group and five patients in the NBV group with a TR maximum velocity of 2.4–3.3 m/s. dP/dt ≥ 350 mmHg/s and TR maximum velocity ≥ 2.9 m/s were identified as criteria for predicting the outcome in such cases. The performance of dP/dt ≥ 350 mmHg/s in predicting BV after birth in fetuses with TVD or Ebstein's anomaly was higher compared to that of TR maximum velocity ≥ 2.9 m/s (sensitivity, 90.9% vs 72.3% and specificity, 80.0% vs 80.0%, respectively). Conclusions: In fetuses with TVD or Ebstein's anomaly, the postnatal outcome may be BV or NBV when the TR maximum velocity is 2.4–3.3 m/s. In such cases, by combining the TR maximum velocity with dP/dt ≥ 350 mmHg/s, BV after birth may be predicted with greater accuracy. © 2022 International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: There is no consensus on managing pregnancy when the fetus is diagnosed with idiopathic premature constriction or closure of the ductus arteriosus (PCDA). Knowing whether the ductus reopens is valuable information for managing idiopathic PCDA. We conducted a case-series study to investigate the natural perinatal course of idiopathic PCDA and examined factors associated with ductal reopening. METHODS: We retrospectively collected information about the perinatal course and echocardiographic findings at our institution, which, on principle, does not determine delivery timing based on fetal echocardiographic results. We also examined perinatal factors related to the reopening of the ductus arteriosus. RESULTS: Thirteen cases of idiopathic PCDA were included in the analysis. The ductus reopened in 38% of cases. Among cases diagnosed in < 37 weeks of gestation, 71% reopened, which was confirmed seven days after diagnosis (interquartile range 4–7). Diagnosis earlier in gestation was associated with ductal reopening (p = 0.006). Two cases (15%) developed persistent pulmonary hypertension. No fetal hydrops or death occurred. CONCLUSIONS: The ductus is likely to reopen when prenatally diagnosed before 37 weeks gestation. There were no complications due to our pregnancy management policy. In idiopathic PCDA, especially if the prenatal diagnosis is made before 37 weeks of gestational age, continuing the pregnancy with careful monitoring of the fetus's well-being is recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the current status and challenges in the prenatal diagnosis of cleft lip and palate (CLP) at Kanagawa Children's Medical Center in Japan. Despite prenatal ultrasound screenings during maternal check-ups, CLP is often detected postnatally. The study examines the referral rates for CLP during the fetal period to the medical center and evaluates the diagnostic rate and classification accuracy of CLP during fetal ultrasound. The results show that the accuracy of fetal diagnosis of CLP remains low, particularly in determining the presence of cleft alveolus and cleft palate. Improving the accuracy of prenatal diagnosis is identified as a future challenge. [Extracted from the article]

An abstract of the article "The new maker, triangle sign for fetal screening of isolate infracardiac total anomalous pulmonary venous return ( TAPVD)" by M. Kawataki is presented.

An abstract of the article "Effectiveness of pulmonary vein blood flow waveforms in fetal screening of isolated total anomalous pulmonary venous drainage ( TAPVD)." by M. Kawataki and others is presented.

An abstract of the article "'Wait and see' strategy is acceptable for premature constriction of ductus arteriosus" by K. Kim and colleagues is presented.

An abstract of the article "A new and excellent screening way of aortic arch by the Biplane method" by M. Kawataki is presented.

An abstract of the article "The possibility of fetal heart screening by real time 4D" by M. Kawataki is presented.

An abstract of the article "The screening of heterotaxy syndrome that paid attention to position of apex and stomach bubble" by M. Nagasawa and M. Kawataki is presented.

Objectives To document outcome and to explore prognostic factors in fetal left congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH). Methods This was a multicenter retrospective study of 109 patients with prenatally diagnosed isolated left CDH born between 2002 and 2007. The primary outcome was intact discharge, defined as discharge from hospital without major morbidities, such as a need for respiratory support including oxygen supplementation, tube feeding, parenteral nutrition or vasodilators. All patients were managed at perinatal centers with immediate resuscitation, gentle ventilation (mostly with high-frequency oscillatory ventilation) and surgery after stabilization. Prenatal data collected included liver and stomach position, lung-to-head ratio, gestational age at diagnosis and presence or absence of polyhydramnios. Stomach position was classified into four grades: Grade 0, abdominal; Grade 1, left thoracic; Grade 2, less than half of the stomach herniated into the right chest; and Grade 3, more than half of the stomach herniated into the right chest. Results Overall intact discharge and 90-day survival rates were 65.1% and 79.8%, respectively. Stomach herniation was classified as Grade 0 in 19.3% of cases, Grade 1 in 45.9%, Grade 2 in 13.8% and Grade 3 in 21.1%. Multivariate analysis revealed that liver position was the strongest prognostic variable for intact discharge, followed by stomach position. Based on our results, we divided patients into three groups according to liver (up vs. down) and stomach (Grade 0-2 vs. Grade 3) position. Intact discharge rates declined significantly from liverdown (Group I), to liver-up with stomach Grade 0-2 (Group II), to liver-up with stomach Grade 3 (Group III) (87.0%, 47.4% and 9.5% of cases, respectively). Conclusion Current status and outcomes of prenatally diagnosed left CDH in Japan were surveyed. Stomach herniation into the right chest was not uncommon and its grade correlated with outcome. The combination of liver and stomach positions was useful to stratify patients into three groups (Group I-III) with different prognoses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective . The objective of our paper is to show that the spatio-temporal image correlation (STIC) and tomographic ultrasound imaging (TUI) is very convenient and helpful for the fetal screening of complex congenital heart defects (CHD). Methods . Ultrasound examinations were performed using a Voluson 730 EXPERT or PRO system (GE Medical system, Kretztechnik, Zipf, Austria), and the transabdominal probe (RAB 4–8 MHz or 1–5 MHz) was used to acquire the STIC volumes. Various complex CHD including heterotaxia, ventricular septal defect (VSD), atrio-ventricular septal defect (AVSD), tetralogy of fallot (TOF), transposition of great artery (TGA), hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS) were examined between 20 weeks and 35 weeks. After routine cardiac screening and examination by two-dimensional ultrasound, three- and four-dimensional ultrasound were performed by gray-scaled and color flow mapping. After the examination detailed analysis of CHD were performed by STIC and TUI. Results . In the case of heterotaxia, STIC and TUI was useful for the detection of stomach and cardiac apex in the different slices. In the case of VSD and AVSD, they were useful for the exact determination of septal defect location. In the cases of TOF, TGA and HLHS, they were helpful for observation of outflow tract and exact diagnosis. Conclusion . In the screening of complex CHD including heterotaxia, VSD, AVSD, TOF, TGA and HLHS, STIC is very useful and powerful tool. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To elucidate the prenatal and postnatal course of fetal congenital atrioventricular block (CAVB) during the past decade in the Japanese population. Design: Retrospective multicentre study. All fetuses with CAVB in 10 Japanese institutions in the period from January 1990 to August 2001 were included. Patients: Of the 48 fetuses with CAVB, 17 had a congenital heart defect (CHD) (14 with left atrial isomerism) and 31 had a structurally normal heart (22 with positive maternal autoantibodies). Gestational age at diagnosis was 15 to 38 (median 26) weeks. Results: Of the 17 fetuses with a CHD, three were aborted, one died before birth, and eight died after birth (three in the neonatal period and five after the neonatal period). Of the 31 fetuses without a CHO, two died before birth and two died after birth. CHD (p = 0.005) and the presence of fetal hydrops (p = 0.05) were significant risk factors for death. However, fetal ventricular and atrial heart rates, gestational age at delivery, and birth weight were not related to death. Transplacental medication of sympathomimetics increased the fetal heart rate in five of eight fetuses treated. Dexamethasone did not improve the degree of heart block in any of the six fetuses treated. Postnatally, pacemakers were implanted in 30 of 40 babies. Four fetuses with maternal autoantibodies had decreased cardiac function. Conclusions: CHD and fetal hydrops are risk factors for prenatal and postnatal death. The fetal ventricular rate of 55 beats/min did not appear to be a threshold value by which to predict fetal hydrops. Patients with CAVB should be subjected to close long term follow up to check for the need for pacemaker implantation or for late onset cardiac dysfunction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The North Japan fetal Echocardiography remote seminar began for the purpose of the spread of fetal heart screening and correction of the regional disparity. The investigation method transmitted a questionnaire by an email and had you reply after having replied it. When there was the rise in fetus heart screening rate of Miyagi for the past 10 years, as a result of the remote seminar, Takashi Tanaka MD reports it. [Extracted from the article]

LPA comes from the distal part of right pulmonary artery (RPA) and runs behind the trachea toward the left lung in the PA sling. We will report five cases of PA sling and evaluate the effectiveness of the new screening point of the retro-tracheal arterial flow. The screening method of retro-tracheal arterial flow was positive in all five cases of PA sling. [Extracted from the article]

The objective of this study to clarify the ratio of fetal diagnosis for iTAPVR in recent years, and the reasons for referral. Ratio of fetal diagnosis for iTAPVR has improved dramatically in recent years. [Extracted from the article]

An abstract of the article "New markers for atrioventricular septal defects in fetus," by K. Shirai and M. Kawataki is presented.

Left pulmonary artery (LPA) sling is a very rare anomaly in which the LPA arises distally, far from the right pulmonary artery on the right side of the distal trachea, turns sharply leftwards around the trachea and courses to the left lung hilum through the space between the trachea and esophagus. LPA sling is often associated with distal tracheal narrowing, due to either intrinsic stenosis or secondary compression by the anomaly itself. To our knowledge, prenatal diagnosis of LPA sling has not been reported so far. We report a case in which LPA sling was diagnosed during fetal ultrasound examination. Copyright © 2011 ISUOG. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An abstract of the article "Predicting the postnatal course of fetuses with type-1 transposition of great arteries by echocardiography," by K. Kim and colleagues is presented.

An abstract of the article "Prognosis of fetal "small left ventricle"," by K. Kim and colleagues is presented.

An abstract of the article "A new screening method of right aortic arch (RAA)," by M. Kawataki is presented.

An abstract of the article "The effect of respiration-like movement on changes in the distance between the left atrial wall and descending aorta," by K. Imamura and M. Kawataki is presented.

An abstract of the article "A Prenatal diagnosis of polysplenia syndrome," by M. Nagasawa and M. Kawataki is presented.

An abstract of the article "Pulsed Doppler imaging of renal artery and vein is useful for diagnosis of fetal arrhythmia," by T. Itai and colleagues is presented.

An abstract of the article "Trial of a remote hands-on training seminar for fetal echocardiography using the Vidyo system," by K. Kubonoya, C. Tagata, and M. Kawataki is presented.

Summary: We describe the results of mutational analysis of the carbamoylphosphate synthetase I (CPSI) gene in three nonconsanguineous patients with CPSI deficiency. Compound heterozygotes of 3422T/G (V1141G) plus 3784C/T (R1262X), 1528delG (510-514 ARQLX) plus 2752T/C (S918P), and 2549G/A (R850H) plus 2797delT (L933X) were identified through genomic analysis; however, the 2797delT (L933X) mutation was not detected in cDNA analysis using biopsied liver, suggesting that mRNA expression from this mutant allele is absent or markedly low. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An abstract of the article "What we have achieved in fetal cardiac screening in last 2 decades and future" by M. Kawataki is presented.

An abstract of the article "Outcomes and issues related to the introduction of a screening system for severe heart disease" by K. Imamura and M. Kawataki is presented.

An abstract of the article "The effective fetal screening using the distance between the descending aorta and left atrial posterior wall in four chamber view for Total Anomalous Pulmonary Venous Return" by M. Kawataki is presented.

An abstract of the research paper "Coactation or Interruotion of Aortic Arch With Double Aortic Arch, Hypothesis of Their Origin From the Comparison of Fetal Echocardiography and Neonatal 3DCT," by M. Kawataki is presented.

An abstract of the research paper "Natural history of bradyarrythmia with prenatally diagnosed polysplenia," by M. Kawataki is presented.

An abstract of the research paper "The new application of dual Doppler to Tei Index of the right heart," by M. Kawataki is presented.

An abstract of the research paper "The new application of dual Doppler to the flow of SVC and AO," by M. Kawataki is presented.

An abstract of the article "The new methods of evaluation for total anomalous venous return (TAPVR) from the pulmonary venous flow," by M. Kawataki is presented.

An abstract of the article "The fetal tracheal stenosis of vascular ring, the new methods of evaluation," by M. Kawataki is presented.

An abstract of the conference paper "An additional value of 4D ultrasound with STIC in prenatal diagnosis of isolated-TAPVD," by K. Yoshikoshi and colleagues is presented.

An abstract of the article "Right aortic arch (RAA) is a powerful marker for fetal cardiovascular anomaly screening," by M. Kawataki and colleagues is presented.

An abstract of the article "This is the first report of the spontaneous occlusion of ductus venosus in prenatal," by Y. Kotani and colleagues is presented.

An abstract of the conference paper "Total anomalous pulmonary venous drainage (TAPVD): two cases prenatally detected in a routine screening setting," by K. Tsujimura and colleagues is presented.

An abstract of the conference paper "Three cases of double aortic arch diagnosed in fetal period," by K. Tsujimura and colleagues is presented.

An abstract of the research paper "Ductus Arteriosus and Foramen Ovale of Fetal Transposition of Great Arteries" by M.K. Kawataki and colleagues is presented.