Citation, DOI, disclosures and article data
Citation:
Radswiki T, Knipe H, Sperry Z, et al. Fetal cardiothoracic circumference ratio. Reference article, Radiopaedia.org (Accessed on 19 Apr 2024) https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-15006
Disclosures:
At the time the article was last revised Henry Knipe had the following disclosures:
- Radiopaedia Events Pty Ltd, Speaker fees (past)
- Integral Diagnostics, Shareholder (ongoing)
- Micro-X Ltd, Shareholder (ongoing)
These were assessed during peer review and were determined to
not be relevant to the changes that were made.
View Henry Knipe's current disclosures
Fetal cardiothoracic (C/T) circumference ratio is a parameter that can be used in the assessment of fetal cardiac and thoracic/chest wall anomalies. It is the ratio of the cardiac circumference to the thoracic circumference and may be easily measured on fetal ultrasound/echocardiography.
Radiographic features
Ultrasound/echocardiography
Classically, the C/T circumference ratio should be always <0.5 throughout gestation. It slowly increases throughout gestation 1,2:
- ~11 weeks: 0.38
- ~17-20 weeks: 0.45
- term: 0.5
Increased C/T circumference ratios can be observed with either cardiac or thoracic pathology:
More recent studies, however, have suggested that larger C/T ratios at later gestational ages may still be considered normal 3,4. These studies suggest appropriate cutoff ratios for cardiomegaly of:
- 12-15 weeks: 0.50
- 18-20 weeks: 0.52
- 25-30 weeks: 0.59
See also
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1. Alfred Abuhamad, Rabih Chaoui. A Practical Guide to Fetal Echocardiography. (2010) ISBN: 9780781797573 - Google Books
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2. Traisrisilp K, Tongprasert F, Srisupundit K, Luewan S, Tongsong T. Reference Ranges for the Fetal Cardiac Circumference Derived by Cardio-Spatiotemporal Image Correlation from 14 to 40 Weeks' Gestation. J Ultrasound Med. 2011;30(9):1191-6. doi:10.7863/jum.2011.30.9.1191 - Pubmed
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3. Sirilert S, Tongprasert F, Srisupundit K, Tongsong T, Luewan S. Z Score Reference Ranges of Fetal Cardiothoracic Diameter Ratio. J Ultrasound Med. 2019;38(4):999-1007. doi:10.1002/jum.14786 - Pubmed
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4. Leung K, Liao C, Li Q et al. A New Strategy for Prenatal Diagnosis of Homozygous Alpha(0)-Thalassemia. Ultrasound Obstet Gynecol. 2006;28(2):173-7. doi:10.1002/uog.2720 - Pubmed
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