Can all congenital heart problems be identified on a detailed fetal heart scan?
Most major cardiac abnormalities can be detected on a detailed fetal heart scan. For example the scan may show that one of the heart chambers is not developed or that one of the blood vessels is absent or significantly narrow. Because of the quality of the pictures and because of the way the fetal heart works before birth it may not be possible to detect small or medium sized holes in the heart and mild or moderate valve narrowing. The heart is continuing to develop during pregnancy and some defects may gradually evolve during the course of the pregnancy. What happens if a heart abnormality is found? The nature of the problem, the treatment that may be required after birth and the general long term outlook will be explained to you by a Children’s Heart Specialist who will be looking after your baby after birth. In a few cases heart problems may be associated with chromosomal problems and the opportunity to have a test (amniocentesis) to determine this will be discussed. Treatment Treat
