TY - JOUR T1 - Pathological Examination of the Late Embryonic Heart Using the Same 4-chamber and 3-vessel Planes Used in Fetal Echocardiography JF - In Vivo JO - In Vivo SP - 533 LP - 539 DO - 10.21873/invivo.12288 VL - 35 IS - 1 AU - CĂTĂLIN GABRIEL HERGHELEGIU AU - ADRIAN NEACȘU AU - RALUCA CHIRCURESCU AU - DORU HERGHELEGIU AU - SILVIU CRISTIAN VOINEA AU - CAMELIA DIACONU AU - OVIDIU STIRU AU - CORNEL SAVU AU - ALEXANDRU FILIPESCU AU - IRINA BALESCU AU - NICOLAE BACALBASA AU - NICOLAE SUCIU Y1 - 2021/01/01 UR - http://iv.iiarjournals.org/content/35/1/533.abstract N2 - Background/Aim: The incidence of early pregnancy loss widely varies according to age, being considerably higher in older women. Severe congenital malformations play an important role in pregnancy loss, having a high risk of recurrence. Congenital heart defects are the most common congenital abnormalities, thus the diagnosis of such malformations in aborted embryos is important for establishing both a possible cause for pregnancy loss and for correctly counseling the parents. Pathologic examination of the heart that is only a few millimeters in size, is very challenging. Patients and Methods: A pathologic examination protocol using transverse microscopic sections at the level of the 4-chamber and 3-vessel planes is proposed for heart evaluation. Results: Two 9-10 gestational weeks embryos were microscopically examined using transverse slides of the thorax. The 4-chamber and 3-vessel slides were analyzed and compared to 11-13 weeks ultrasound images of the 4-chamber and 3-vessel views from 10 cases. The pathologic examination provided a detailed view of the ventricles, atria and great vessels, sometime surpassing even the ultrasound examination that was performed at a later gestational age. Conclusion: We consider our proposed pathologic examination protocol feasible for evaluating normal heart structures and ruling out severe congenital heart disease. ER -