Fetal echocardiography is an ultrasound test performed during pregnancy to evaluate the heart of the unborn baby.
Fetal echocardiography can help detect fetal heart abnormalities before birth, allowing for faster medical or surgical intervention once the baby is born. This improves the chance of survival after delivery for babies with serious heart defects.
Echocardiography assesses the heart's structures and function. A small probe called a transducer (similar to a microphone) is placed on the mother's abdomen and sends out ultrasonic sound waves at a frequency too high to be heard. When the transducer is placed in certain locations and at certain angles, the ultrasonic sound waves move through the mother's and baby's skin and other body tissues to the baby's heart tissues, where the waves bounce (or "echo") off of the heart structures. The transducer picks up the reflected waves and sends them to a computer. The computer interprets the echoes into an image of the heart walls and valves.
The following Crozer-Keystone hospitals provide fetal echocardiograms:
Crozer-Chester Medical Center
One Medical Center Boulevard
Upland, PA 19013
Delaware County Memorial Hospital
501 North Lansdowne Avenue
Drexel Hill, PA 19026
Call 1-800-CK-HEALTH for more information or to schedule an appointment.
Find additional Crozer-Keystone maternity services at CK Maternity.