Sonographische Messungen am fetalen Herzen in der Vierkammerblick-Ebene

: Foetal cardiac measurements performed in the four-chamber-view plane were performed in uncomplicated pregnancies between the 20th and the 40th week of gestation. Using cine-loop- and zoom-techniques, the heart length, width, area, and width/length ratio (n = 143) were measured. Including the thoracic diameter and the thoracic area (n = 128), the ratios heart width/thoracic width (CT-ratio) and heart area/thoracic area (CTA-ratio) were also calculated. Normal ranges for the measured parameters and calculated ratios were constructed. Viewing the foetal four-chamber-plane is nowadays a routine scan in obstetrics, and such proposed reference curves could help the sonographer, to detect an abnormal heart and differentiate heart dilation from normal heart in a growth-retarded foetus.