Abstract
Objective To determine the rate of unsuspected noncardiac abnormalities in newborns suspected
to have isolated cardiac abnormalities in the second trimester.
Study Design A review of the ultrasound database from the Weill Cornell Medical Center identified
fetuses with a suspected cardiac abnormality from January 2006 to November 2016. Cases
with prenatally suspected noncardiac structural abnormalities, abnormal fetal or neonatal
karyotype or microarray, and those who delivered at an outside institution or underwent
abortion were excluded. Neonatal records were reviewed to confirm prenatal findings
and to identify anomalies not suspected in the second trimester.
Results Sixty-eight live births met the inclusion criteria. Five newborns (7.4%) had major
abnormalities not identified in the second trimester. Three newborns had an imperforate
anus. One newborn had left hydronephrosis and absent right lung, and one had hemifacial
microsomia and fused ribs. All five newborns with unsuspected anomalies were in the
group with suspected conotruncal anomalies, with a 11.9% rate of unsuspected anomalies
versus 0% in those with nonconotruncal cardiac anomalies (p = 0.15).
Conclusion Patients with a suspected isolated fetal cardiac anomaly on ultrasound should be
aware of the possibility of other major structural abnormalities, especially in cases
of conotruncal cardiac anomalies.
Keywords
cardiac abnormality - cardiac anomaly - conotruncal - noncardiac abnormalities - noncardiac
anomalies
