Xinyan Li1, Xiaoxia Qiu1, Huan Huang1, Yili Zhao2, Xueqin Li1, Meng Li1, Xiaoxian Tian1
Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.13, No.2, pp. 282-287, 2018, DOI:10.1111/chd.12568
Abstract Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of using fetal heart size measurements derived from axial
echocardiography to predict homozygous α-thalassemia-1.
Design: Prospective diagnostic study.
Setting: The carrier rate of α-thalassemia-1 (–/αα) in China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region
is approximately 15%. If both parents are carriers, the risk of homozygous a-thalassemia-1 in one
pregnancy is 25%.
Patients: Singleton mid-pregnancies at risk of homozygous α-thalassemia-1 were enrolled.
Outcome Measures: Fetal heart measurements, including heart diameter (HD), heart length (HL),
heart circumference (HC), and heart area (HA), were measured. The z-scores for these heart parameters were then calculated separately based on previously constructed z-score… More >