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Simple Summary: Reproductive pathologies represent a significant barrier to achieving a highly productive flock, which makes securing a fast, low-invasiveness, and low-cost diagnosis very important. In this research, we report on an eight-year retrospective study (2012–2020) of ultrasound data carried out in Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil, to explore the occurrence and appearance of certain reproductive tract pathologies of small ruminants. A total of 3463 animals from 16 sheep flocks (1688 ewes and 55 rams) and ten dairy goat flocks (1704 does and 16 bucks) raised under extensive and intensive management systems, respectively, were used in the study. All animals were submitted to ultrasound examination of their reproductive tracts, which occurred during the breeding and outbreeding seasons. From the 8.98% of does that presented reproductive disorders, the most frequent finding was hydrometra (50.98% of cases), while for 4.14% of ewes presenting disorders, recent fetal loss (22.85%) and cystic endometrial hyperplasia (20%) were the most frequent. For males, 43.63% and 56.25% of rams and bucks, respectively, presented disorders; for rams mainly microlithiasis. Ultrasonography provided clinically useful information about the reproductive tract, both in terms of the disorders and their stages, making the establishment of a diagnosis easier, and also making it possible to improve therapy, as well as the prognosis prediction. This study reports the occurrence and appearance of various reproductive tract pathologies of small ruminants diagnosed using ultrasound. An eight-year retrospective study of collected ultrasound data was carried out in Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil from September 2012 to July 2020. A total of 3463 animals from 16 sheep flocks and 10 dairy goat flocks, raised under extensive and intensive management systems, respectively, were used in the study. All animals were submitted to an ultrasound examination of their reproductive tract. Data were analyzed using Fisher's exact test (p < 0.05), to compare disorder frequencies within and between species. Ewes (4.14%) had fewer reproductive disorders than does (8.98%), while rams (43.63%) and bucks (56.25%) presented no significant differences. Hydrometra was the most frequent finding in does, represented by 50.98% of cases; while, in ewes, recent fetal loss (22.85%) and cystic endometrial hyperplasia (20.00%) were the most frequent. In bucks, the findings showed no clear differences; while, for rams, the most frequent finding was testicular microlithiasis (75.00%). Ultrasonography offers clinically useful information about the reproductive tract via the images it provides; knowledge of which makes it possible to improve the diagnosis, therapy, and prognosis of genital pathologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study evaluates the capacity of ultrasonography as a diagnostic method to confirm the proper positioning of central venous catheter (CVC) when compared to the current gold standard, chest radiography (CR).Methods: A prospective study was performed including children from 0 to 14 incomplete years, who underwent CVC placement between March and May 2018 at a teaching hospital in Brazil. A four-chamber view of the heart was performed with ultrasound during a rapid injection of saline solution to identify hyperechoic images and confirm the central position of the catheter. After that, a CR was performed. The diagnostic quality of ultrasound was evaluated based on accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values.Results: A total of 21 patients were analyzed. The mean age was 3.95 ± 4.01 years. The preferred puncture site was the right internal jugular vein (71.4%). Ultrasound accuracy to detect CVC positioning was 81%. Sensitivity, specificity and positive and negative predictive values were 33%, 100%, 100% and 79%, respectively.Conclusion: Ultrasound is a reliable method for detection of CVC positioning. Even so, with the four-chamber cardiac view, this method is unable to identify catheters inside heart chambers, therefore, needing to confirm the positioning with CR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective To evaluate the feasibility of the use of spatiotemporal image correlation ( STIC) as a screening program for congenital heart disease and the influence of professional experience in those examinations. Methods This prospective cross-sectional study included 64 pregnant women at gestational age between 20 and 34 weeks, and 12 physician participants who were divided into two groups: group 1-' STIC specialist'; and group 2-' STIC nonspecialist.' Volumes were analyzed to obtain the five axial views for optimal fetal heart screening: abdominal situs, four-chamber view (4 CV), outflow tract views ( OTV), and three vessels and trachea view (3 VT). The chi-square test (χ2) was used to compare the group's results and kappa coefficient to evaluate inter- and intra-observer reproducibility. Results Spatiotemporal image correlation volume acquisition was successful in 97.3% of cases in which it was attempted (group 1: 100%; group 2:95%). A total of 197 STIC volumes were used in this study. In 71%, it was possible to demonstrate 4 CV and OTV (group 1:88.9%; group 2:58.6%). 4 CV, OTV, and 3 VT were visualized in 55.3% of the volume dataset (group 1:74.1% and group 2:42.2%). In 49% of volumes, all five views for optimal fetal heart screening were seen (group 1:67%; group 2: 36%). A good inter-observer agreement was found in all cardiac views and a good intra-observer agreement in most of views except in OTV. Conclusion We believe that STIC can be used as a tool to improve the cardiac screening examination of the fetus. Professional experience was the most important influence in the image quality of the STIC volume. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Congenital heart disease (CHD) is the most common birth defect and the leading cause of mortality in the first year of life. In fetuses with a heart defect, chromosomal abnormalities are very frequent. Besides aneuploidy, 22q11.2 deletion is one of the most recognizable chromosomal abnormalities causing CHD. The frequency of this abnormality varies in nonselected populations. This study aimed to investigate the incidence of the 22q11.2 deletion and other chromosomal alterations in a Brazilian sample of fetuses with structural cardiac anomalies detected by fetal echocardiography. In a prospective study, 68 fetuses with a heart defect were evaluated. Prenatal detection of cardiac abnormalities led to identification of aneuploidy or structural chromosomal anomaly in 35.3% of these cases. None of the fetuses with apparently normal karyotypes had a 22q11.2 deletion. The heart defects most frequently associated with chromosomal abnormalities were atrioventricular septal defect (AVSD), ventricular septal defect (VSD), and tetralogy of Fallot. Autosomal trisomies 18 and 21 were the most common chromosomal abnormalities. The study results support the strong association of chromosome alterations and cardiac malformation, especially in AVSD and VSD, for which a chromosome investigation is indicated. In fetuses with an isolated conotruncal cardiopathy, fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) to investigate a 22q11.2 deletion is not indicated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To assess the quality of fetal heart views by three-dimensional/four-dimensional (3D/4D) ultrasonography using spatio-temporal image correlation (STIC) in the second and third trimester of pregnancy., Methods: This prospective and cross-sectional study was conducted at a single referral service for the screening of congenital heart diseases (CHDs), with pregnant women at 20-30 weeks' gestation with a normal fetal heart. 3D/4D STIC were obtained from the fetal heart screening in the following views: four-chamber (4C), left and right ventricular outflow tracts (LVOT and RVOT), 3 vessels and trachea (3VT), aortic arch (AA), and ductal arch (DA). We categorized the images as satisfactory or unsatisfactory and performed McNemar's test to evaluate the differences between the two-dimensional (2D) echocardiography and 3D/4D STIC techniques. The inter-observer concordance was obtained by kappa coefficient., Results: The rate of satisfactory fetal heart views using 3D/4D STIC was 54% by using 4 planes (4C, RVOT, LVOT, and 3VT) and 14% by using 6 planes (4C, RVOT, LVOT, 3VT, AA, and DA). In contrast, 100% of the 2D echocardiography images were satisfactory (McNemar's test, P < 0.001). We observed moderate inter-observer concordance to both 4- and 6 planes (κ = 0.56 and 0.43, respectively)., Conclusion: The quality of the main fetal heart views by 3D/4D STIC still present some limitations compared with the 2D echocardiography., (© 2014, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)