Aim. To present data on prenatal diagnosis of six major cardiac malformatio
ns in low-risk European populations.
Methods. Data from 12 Eurocat registries on congenital malformations. All r
egistries have multiple sources of information and use the same methods of
data collection and coding. The six cardiac malformations included were hyp
oplastic left heart, tricuspid atresia, single ventricle, Tetralogy of Fall
ot, transposition of great arteries and common A-V-canal.
Results. There were significant differences in the proportion of cases diag
nosed prenatally, with the highest detection rate in France (91% for single
ventricle in Paris) and the lowest detection rate in countries without pre
natal ultrasound screening (no cases diagnosed prenatally in the Danish reg
istry area). Prenatal detection rate was significantly higher for the three
malformations affecting the size of the ventricles (hypoplastic left heart
, tricuspid atresia, single ventricle) compared to the other three malforma
tions (46% versus 24%, p<0.001). Time of diagnosis was late, with only one
third diagnosed before 24 weeks of gestation. The risk of fetal death seems
to be low.
Conclusion. There are significant regional differences in prenatal detectio
n rate of major cardiac malformations in Europe.