THE CURRENT SITUATION OF THE STUDY OF FETAL HEART DISEASES USING IMAGE EXAMINATION: A NARRATIVE REVIEW

Abstract

Congenital heart disease (CHD) constitutes a critical challenge to Brazilian public health, becoming the leading cause of death from congenital anomalies in the first year of life. Given this scenario, this review investigates how advances in imaging methods are redefining prenatal diagnosis and clinical management of these pathologies. To this end, a search was conducted in PubMed using descriptors related to congenital heart disease and fetal imaging, without time limits and filtered for free texts. Articles in English relevant to the topic and on diagnosis and technologies were included, while duplicates or irrelevant articles were excluded. In the end, 9 studies were analyzed. It is observed that, although fetal echocardiography is the gold standard, it encounters important limitations in maternal biotype and acoustic window. In this sense, the analyzed data reinforce the role of cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) as a complementary resource, especially for volumetric precision and detailed evaluation of the aortic arch. Literature shows that the diagnosis of congenital heart disease (CHD) is undergoing a fundamental transition: it is shifting from a purely anatomical approach to a precise hemodynamic assessment, driven by the use of 4D Flow, artificial intelligence, and intelligent navigation. Finally, the findings confirm that the future of fetal cardiology depends on the convergence of advanced technology and interdisciplinary care, highlighting that the standardization of protocols is the necessary step to convert this technological potential into real benefits in neonatal outcomes.