Fetal heart beat
Last revised by Tariq Walizai
on 5 Aug 2024
Citation, DOI, disclosures and article data
Citation:
Walizai T, Weerakkody Y, Gilcrease-Garcia B, et al. Fetal heart beat. Reference article, Radiopaedia.org (Accessed on 21 Feb 2025) https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-7361
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rID:
7361
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Disclosures:
At the time the article was created Frank Gaillard had no recorded disclosures.
View Frank Gaillard's current disclosures
Last revised:
5 Aug 2024,
Tariq Walizai
Disclosures:
At the time the article was last revised Tariq Walizai had no financial relationships to ineligible companies to disclose.
View Tariq Walizai's current disclosures
Revisions:
8 times, by
8 contributors -
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Synonyms:
- Fetal cardiac activity
- Fetal heart beat (FHB)
- Fetal heart activity
Fetal heart beat can be detected as early as 34 days (just under 6 weeks) gestation on good quality, high frequency transvaginal ultrasound, as a crown rump length (CRL) of as little as 1-2 mm.
If a fetal heartbeat cannot be identified with a CRL ≥7 mm using transvaginal scanning, then embryonal demise can be diagnosed 3,4. Demise can be confirmed with repeated scanning and serial quantitative beta-HCG.
See also
References
- 1. N Gupta and TL Angtuaco "Embryosonology in the First Trimester of Pregnancy" Ultrasound Clinics 2 (2007) 175-185
- 2. Merz E, Bahlmann F. Ultrasound in obstetrics and gynecology. Thieme Medical Publishers. (2005) ISBN:1588901475. Read it at Google Books - Find it at Amazon
- 3. Jain KA, Hamper UM, Sanders RC. Comparison of transvaginal and transabdominal sonography in the detection of early pregnancy and its complications. AJR Am J Roentgenol. 1988;151 (6): 1139-43. AJR Am J Roentgenol (abstract) - Pubmed citation
- 4. Bickhaus J, Perry E, Schust DJ. Re-examining Sonographic Cut-off Values for Diagnosing Early Pregnancy Loss. (2013) Gynecology & obstetrics (Sunnyvale, Calif.). 3 (1): 141. doi:10.4172/2161-0932.1000141 - Pubmed