November 2022 - Gregor Dovjak

DDr. Gregor Dovjak

MedUni Wien RESEARCHER OF THE MONTH November 2022

Cardiac defects are among the most common congenital malformations, occurring in nearly 1% of all newborns. In this study, the frequency and spectrum of extracardiac anomalies (ECA), including structural brain anomalies (SBA), were investigated on fetal MRI in 442 fetuses with heart defects between 17 and 38 weeks of gestation. Of all fetuses with cardiac defects, 56.6% had at least one ECA and 24.9% had an SBA. In addition to abnormalities in the fetal brain, abnormalities of the fetal kidneys and placenta were particularly common. The severity of cardiac defects was not associated with the frequency of other malformations (in other organ systems). Currently, CHD is not a standard indication for fetal MRI. Our results suggest that performing fetal MRI in CHD fetuses is a useful adjunct to sonography. Prenatal knowledge of the CHD diagnosis as well as associated malformations is important for an optimized perinatal and postnatal management of children.

Selected Literature

1. Dovjak G, Hausmaninger G, Zalewski T, Schmidbauer V, Weber M, Worda C, Seidl-Mlczoch E, Berger-Kulemann V, Prayer D, Kasprian G, Ulm B. Brainstem and cerebellar volumes at MRI are smaller in fetuses with congenital heart disease; Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2022 Mar
2. Dovjak G, Zalewski T, Seidl-Mlczoch E, Ulm P, Berger-Kulemann V, Weber M, Prayer D, Kasprian G, Ulm B. Abnormal Extracardiac Development in Fetuses with Congenital Heart Disease; J Am Coll Cardiol. 2021 Dec
3. Dovjak GO, Schmidbauer V, Brugger PC, Gruber GM, Diogo M, Glatter S, Weber M, Ulm B, Prayer D, Kasprian G. Normal human brainstem development in vivo: a quantitative fetal MRI study; Ultrasound Obstet Gynecol. 2021 Aug
4. Ulm B, Dovjak GO, Scharrer A, Muin DA, Zimpfer D, Prayer D, Weber M, Berger-Kulemann V. Diagnostic quality of 3Tesla postmortem magnetic resonance imaging in fetuses with and without congenital heart disease; Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2021 Aug
5. Dovjak GO, Diogo MC, Brugger PC, Gruber GM, Weber M, Glatter S, Seidl R, Bettelheim D, Prayer D, Kasprian GJ: Quantitative fetal MRI assessment of cystic posterior fossa malformations; Ultrasound Obstet Gynecol. 2019 Oct
6. Dovjak GO, Brugger P, Gruber M, Song J, Weber M, Langs G, Bettelheim D, Prayer D, Kasprian G: Prenatal assessment of cerebellar vermian lobulation: fetal MRI with 3 Tesla post-mortem correlation; Ultrasound Obstet Gynecol. 2017 Aug