Background: The available data on the relationship between diet/folic acid and congenital heart disease (CHD) are not consistent. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between the intake and supplementation of folic acid and other selected factors in mothers and the risk of congenital heart defects in fetuses. Methods: A case–control study was conducted. The study group included pregnant women with fetuses from singleton pregnancies with prenatally diagnosed heart defects in the fetus (n = 79) and pregnant women whose course of pregnancy was normal with no heart defects or other developmental anomalies diagnosed in the fetus (n = 121). The patients were diagnosed at a reference center in Poland. The women completed a lifestyle questionnaire and FFQ and precisely described their use of dietary supplements. A univariate logistic regression model was used to evaluate the association between folic acid and selected risk factors and CHD. The association was significant and included such risk factors such as nutritional status, medications taken, smoking, and alcohol consumption. Additionally, the time of starting folic acid supplementation turned out to be statistically significant. The reference period of supplementation was the period before pregnancy. Results: Lack of supplementation increases the risk of heart defects in children by more than four times compared to supplementation before pregnancy (OR = 4.19; p = 0.0117), whereas supplementation beyond the eighth week of gestation increases the risk almost threefold (OR = 2.90; p = 0.0474). The presence of congenital defects in the family is also an important factor. Conclusions: A history of congenital heart defects or other defects, lack of periconceptional folic acid supplementation, and lack of dietary supplementation before pregnancy were associated with congenital heart defects in the fetus. Place of residence, parents’ education, lifestyle habits such as smoking and alcohol consumption, nutritional status before pregnancy, and mother’s diseases did not show a significant relationship with congenital heart defects in the children. There is an urgent need to develop preventive strategies and conduct extensive public education.

Total anomalous pulmonary venous connection (TAPVC) is a congenital heart defect (CHD), in which all pulmonary veins connect to the systemic veins or to the right atrium/coronary sinus instead of the left atrium. We present a case report of fetus with prenatally diagnosed isolated infracardiac type of TAPVC in 38th week of gestation. In fetal echocardiographic examination performed in the Department of Prenatal Cardiology, the fetus presented lack of visible pulmonary veins connection to left atrium, abnormal venous confluence behind left atrium, additional vein leading from abdominal cavity to mediastinum and abnormal smooth Doppler blood flow in pulmonary confluence. The accurate prenatal diagnosis allowed to deliver the neonate at term, in tertiary center one day after diagnosis, and to perform surgical reposition of pulmonary veins the following day. The neonate was referred home in a good condition after 28 days of hospitalization. This case is a good example of the value of the 3rd trimester echocardiography.

Background: Placental thickness has been associated with adverse perinatal outcomes, but the relationship to specific fetal abnormalities seems to not yet be well understood. This study investigates whether increased placental thickness correlates with the severity of fetal cardiac and extracardiac conditions using a structured classification and severity-weighted scoring system. Methods: We undertook a retrospective analysis of 1452 fetal echocardiograms conducted during the third trimester at a tertiary referral institution from the years 2022 to 2025. The diagnoses were categorized into four distinct classifications: congenital heart anomalies, cardiac dysfunctions, extracardiac malformations, and extracardiac dysfunctions. Each diagnostic category was allocated a severity weight predicated on established fetal and neonatal mortality risk literature. The evaluation of placental thickness was regarded not merely as a persistent variable but also categorized into three distinct classifications: thin (≤40 mm), intermediate (41–69 mm), and thick (≥70 mm). The examination of correlations was performed utilizing Spearman’s ρ; comparative evaluations among the groups were conducted employing the Kruskal–Wallis and Mann–Whitney U tests. Results: Placental thickness revealed a moderate positive correlation with weighted extracardiac dysfunctions (ρ = 0.36, p < 0.00001), displayed a comparatively weaker yet statistically significant association with cardiac dysfunctions (ρ = 0.13, p = 0.01). Fetuses identified by increased placental thickness (≥70 mm) exhibited notably higher mean scores for both cardiac and extracardiac dysfunctions. Within the cohort exhibiting thick placentas, 25.8% displayed extracardiac dysfunction scores surpassing 0.3, in contrast to only 7.7% within the cohort with thinner placentas. Conclusions: Augmented placental thickness correlates with an elevated cumulative load of fetal dysfunction, especially in the realms of extracardiac and functional cardiac impairments. The measurement of placental thickness may function as a straightforward, supplementary indicator of fetal distress in the third trimester, particularly when utilized alongside targeted imaging modalities.

Introduction: The aim of this study was to evaluate the following parameters of fetuses and neonates with omphalocele: the prevalence of coexisting congenital heart defects (CHD), abnormalities in heart function and the impact of coexisting CHD on fetal and neonatal survival. Material and methods: The study group consisted of 69 fetuses with omphalocele diagnosed and monitored at the Department of Prenatal Cardiology in our Institute in the years 2007-2017. The retrospective analisis of patients' data was performed. For statistical analysis we used Chi-square test, t-Student test and U Mann-Whitney test.. Results: In the studied group omphalocele was an isolated defect in 31.9% of the cases (22/69), in 68.1% (47/69) coexisting defects were present, in 49.3% (34/69) the coexisting defect was CHD. The most common CHD coexisting with omphalocele were ventricular septal defect (VSD), double outlet right ventricle (DORV) and atrio-ventricular septal defect (AVSD). Abnormalities of heart function were present in 43.5% (30/69) of fetuses with omphalocele: 23.5% (8/34) with normal heart anatomy and in 62.9% (22/35) with CHD. Statistically significant differences between the group with normal heart anatomy and the group with CHD regarded: Cardiovascular Profile Score (CVPS) (median 10 points vs median 9 points, U Mann-Whitney test p=0.034), neonatal birth weight(mean 3253 g vs median 2700 g, U Mann-Whitney test p=0.003), Apgar score (median 8 vs median 7, U Mann-Whitney test p=0.038) and survival rate until discharge from hospital (85% vs 52.9%, Chi-square test p=0.034). The comparison of data from 2007-2017 with data obtained from similar analysis performed in our center in 1999-2006, revealed significant improvement in the early detection of omphalocele (median 14.5 weeks of gestation vs mean 25.4 weeks of gestation), gestational age of delivery (mean 38 weeks of gestation vs mean 34 weeks of gestation) and survival rate until discharge both in neonates with normal heart anatomy and coexisting CHD (85% and 52.9% vs 70% and 23% respectively) . Conclusions: 1. The presence of coexisting CHD is an important prognostic factor in fetuses and neonates with omphalocele, so early fetal echocardiography should be performed in every case of omphalocele. 2. During the last decade (2007-2017), in contrast to years 1999-2006, we observed significant improvement in early and complete prenatal diagnosis of omphalocele. 3. We observed improvement in strategy of obstetrical management resulting in delivering neonates in a more advanced gestational age both in the group with normal heart anatomy and the group with coexisting CHD.

Introduction: The aim of this study was to evaluate if selected prenatal markers obtainded from fetal echocardiography can predict postnatal outcome in congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) patients. We also aimed to verify the prognostic value of lung-to-head ratio (LHR). Material and...