Fetal Myocardial and Pericardial Diseases

Abstract

This chapter provides an overview of the most frequent pathologies of the myocardium and pericardium during fetal life. Considering that some of these pathologies constitute a group of uncommon conditions, they are of interest from the point of view of their prognostic and therapeutic value. Besides, they are also within the most striking pathologies found in the screening of the fetal heart, and the ones which cause greater anxiety in the family and professional environment. Progress has been made in different diagnostic techniques, outlining some therapeutic advancements, as well as in the importance of new technologies that allow to deepen our knowledge of the functional defects of the cardiac muscle during fetal life.

Keywords: Cardiomyopathies, Cardiac function, Cardiac tumors, Congenital heart defects, Ebstein disease, Fetus, Pericardial effusion, Strain, Speckle tracking, Ultrasound chocardiography, Ventricular dilatation, Ventricular diverticula, Ventricular hypertrophy.