published_or_final_version / Medical Sciences / Master / Master of Medical Sciences

Conotruncal anomalies are the leading causes of cyanotic congenital heart disease. We attempted to use live xPlane imaging of ductal arch view and in-plane view of IVS to screen the fetal conotruncal anomalies in 200 fetuses. There were 152 normal cases, 25 conotruncal anomalies and 23 other types of fetal CHDs were involved in this study. The visualization rate of the normal ductal arch view and in-plane view of IVS with live xPlane imaging was 100% (152/152), 100% (152/152) in normal cases, 8% (2/25), 12% (3/25) in conotruncal anomalies and 69.7% (16/23), 73.9% (17/23) in non-conotruncal CHDs, respectively. The visualization rate of abnormal ductal arch and in-plane view in conotruncal anomalies was much higher than that in non-conotruncal anomalies (P<0.001). Therefore, it may be a useful tool for the assessment and diagnosis of fetal conotruncal anomalies. / In conclusion, real-time 3DE is a novel and promising technique to perform the prenatal examination, both the fetal heart and other system. It represents the future of 3D ultrasound and will become a useful tool for prenatal screening and diagnosis. / This thesis summarized real-time 3D ultrasound in obstetric application. With the introduction of matrix transducer, 3D scanning the fetus in real time became available. / We attempted to use real-time 3D ultrasound in obstetrics outside the fetal heart. We evaluated the feasibility of using real-time 3D ultrasound to assist in obtaining a true midsagittal view in first trimester. Eight sonographers, including FMF-certified and non FMF-certified operators, were asked to perform ultrasound examinations on five patients and forty patients were examined in total. It showed that the deviation from true midsagittal view was reduced greatly with the guidance of live xPlane imaging. Real-time 3D ultrasound can improve the accuracy of acquisition of a defined sonographic plane, and reduce the difference in performance between operators who are formally certified or not. / We demonstrated a novel method to visualize the aortic and ductal arch with live xPlane imaging. The visualization rate is 100%. Ductal arch view can be visualized by placing the reference line through pulmonary artery and descending aorta and aortic arch view can be acquired by putting the reference line along the transverse view of aortic arch and descending aorta on the 3VT view with live xPlane imaging. Therefore, live xPlane imaging is an easy and feasible method for real-time imaging of the ductal and aortic arch. / We explored the feasibility to perform the fetal heart screening using real-time 3DE with live xPlane imaging. We developed and reported the methodology of acquiring and examining the screening planes of the fetal heart with live xPlane imaging. The procedure was simple and straight. When performing the fetal heart screening with live xPlane imaging, we just need display the apical four-chamber view and mid-sagittal view of fetal upper thorax and other thing could be done by moving the reference line. The overall detection of four cardiac screen planes can reach 100%. / We explored to evaluate the entire fetal IVS with both live xPlane imaging and live 3D imaging. We can successfully assess the entire IVS in most fetuses (153/154). We also compared the images acquired by real-time 3DE and STIC in this thesis. It showed that less motion artifact encounters with real-time 3DE and the image quality of real-time 3DE is similar to STIC volume acquired from the sagittal view (P>0.05) and superior to STIC volume from the four-chamber view (P<0.05). Therefore, real-time 3DE can be used to display the lateral view of the fetal IVS, and potentially may be a useful tool for the assessment and diagnosis of fetal VSDs. / Xiong, Yi. / Adviser: Tzekin Lau. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 73-02, Section: B, page: . / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2010. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 116-138). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [201-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstract also in Chinese.