Three- and four-dimensional ultrasound in fetal echocardiography: an up-to-date overview

Congenital heart diseases (chd) are the most commonly overlooked lesions in prenatal screening programs. real-time two-dimensional ultrasound (2dus) is the conventionally used tool for fetal echocardiography. although continuous improvements in the hardware and post-processing software have resulted in a good image quality even in late first trimester, 2dus still has its limitations. four-dimensional ultrasound with spatiotemporal image correlation (stic) is an automated volume acquisition, recording a single three-dimensional (3d) volume throughout a complete cardiac cycle, which results in a four-dimensional (4d) volume. stic has the potential to increase the detection rate of chd. the aim of this study is to provide a practical overview of the possibilities and (dis)advantages of stic. a review of literature and evaluation of the current status and clinical value of 3d/4d ultrasound in prenatal screening and diagnosis of congenital heart disease are presented.