Assessment of Fetal Ventricular Size and Shape in Women With Intrahepatic Cholestasis of Pregnancy Using Speckle Tracking.

OBJECTIVE

To examine the effect of intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (ICP) on fetal heart morphology.

METHODS

This case-control study was conducted with 40 women with ICP and 54 pregnant controls. Fetal heart quantification based on speckle tracking technology was used to assess the morphology of the fetal right and left ventricles. Routine ventricular size parameters, global and 24-segment spherical indices (SIs) were measured and compared between groups.

RESULTS

The routine fetal cardiac parameters, global and right-ventricular SIs did not differ between the ICP and control groups. The left-ventricular apical (segments 16-24) SIs were lower in the ICP group than in the control group (P < .05), with no significant difference in the other left-ventricular segments.

CONCLUSIONS

Subclinical morphological changes were observed in the left ventricular apical segments of the fetal hearts in women with ICP, which indicates an intrauterine environment with high bile acid concentrations. Twenty-four-segment SIs can be used to effectively evaluate these changes.