Assessment of left ventricular systolic function in fetuses without myocardial hypertrophy of gestational diabetes mellitus mothers using velocity vector imaging

The aim of this study was to quantifiably assess left ventricular systolic function by velocity vector imaging (VVI) in fetuses without myocardial hypertrophy born to gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) mothers. Ventricular images (4-chamber) from 60 normal fetuses and 32 GDM fetuses were selected. Myocardial global and segmental peak strain and systolic strain rates were obtained from VVI offline software. Ejection fraction (EF) was also measured to assess fetal cardiac function. EF of normal fetuses and GDM group were 65.55 +/- 4.64% and 65.72 +/- 4.92%. No difference was found in EF between the control group and GDM group. Global strain and strain rate of GDM groups were -13.74 +/- 3.19% and -1.41 +/- 0.54 s(-1), respectively and were found to be lower than the normal group (p < 0.05). Six different segmental peak strains and peak systolic strain rates had identical adjacent segments not only in the control group, but also in GDM fetuses. It was concluded that VVI could reflect fetal cardiac function sensitivity. Global strain and strain rate may be useful parameters for assessing the fetal myocardial systolic function in diabetic mothers.