Abstract

Objective: The significance of intracardiac echogenic focus (ICEF) in the fetal period is controversial. We conducted the current study to determine whether ICEF affects the risk of cardiac malformation or anomaly in the fetus.


Material and Methods: The characteristics of the fetus with 248 intracardiac echogenic foci referred to the pediatric cardiology department for fetal echocardiography between December-2016 and May-2019 were retrospectively analyzed. The number, location, size of ICEF and presence of structural cardiac anomaly were examined. For statistical analysis, χ2 or Fisher’s exact test was used.


Results: Cardiac anomaly was detected in 10 of 248 fetuses with ICEF. The prevalence of cardiac anomaly was 4%. The most common cardiac anomaly was ventricular septal defect. The most common location of the echogenic focus was left ventricular (LV) (84.3%), followed by biventricular (BV) (9.7%) and right ventricular (RV) placement of 6%. The prevalence of cardiac anomalies in fetuses with ICEF located in RV was significantly higher than those with ICEF with LV and BV (13.3% vs. 3.3% and 4.1%, respectively). 14.5% of all fetuses had more than one ICEF. There was no statistically significant difference between the presence of ICEF and maternal age (p = 0.87).


Conclusion: Cardiac structural anomalies were found more frequently in fetuses with ICEF, especially in the right ventricle. More research is needed to examine the histopathological features of fetal echogenic focus in the right ventricle.

Keywords: Echocardiography, Fetal, Intracardiac echogenic focus, Congenital anomaly

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How to cite

1.
Bağrul D. Relationship between Intracardiac Echogenic Focus and Fetal Cardiac Anomaly. Turk J Pediatr Dis [Internet]. 2021 Mar. 30 [cited 2025 May 24];15(2):137-41. Available from: https://turkjpediatrdis.org/article/view/806