Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40714942›Full record

SynthesisPrenatal diagnosis2025

Neurosonographic Evaluation of Cerebral Cortical Development in Fetuses With Congenital Heart Disease: A Systematic Review of the Literature.

Marcelo Dantas Cerqueira Monteiro, Thatiane Lopes Valentim Di Paschoale Ostholin, Miriam Pérez-Cruz, Luana Sarmento Neves da Rocha

Abstract readSystematic Review
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Prenatal diagnosis, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Marcelo Dantas Cerqueira MonteiroFetal Medicine, Caliper Escola de Imagem, Salvador, Brazil.ORCID 0000-0003-0057-9924
Thatiane Lopes Valentim Di Paschoale OstholinDepartamento de Ciências do Movimento Humano, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
Miriam Pérez-CruzBCNatal/Fetal Medicine Research Center (Hospital Clínic and Hospital Sant Joan de Déu), University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
Luana Sarmento Neves da RochaDepartment of Obstetrics and Ginecology, Fetal Medicine, Universidade Federal da Bahia, Salvador, Brazil.ORCID 0000-0002-6024-1602

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

This systematic review collated data from neurosonography and ultrasound evaluations to assess changes in the cortical development of fetuses with congenital heart disease (CHD). Of the 135 articles identified by two independent reviewers, five that satisfied our inclusion criteria were selected. Cortical evaluation was performed by 2D and/or 3D ultrasound via either a transabdominal or transabdominal plus transvaginal approach. One study used a brain-age evaluation algorithm, while the other four measured the depths of brain fissures. Gestational age at the time of fetal evaluation was very heterogeneous, from 20 to 37 weeks. Four of the studies included several types of CHD but one included only fetuses with tetralogy of Fallot. All five studies detected significant delays in the development of brain sulci and gyri in CHD fetuses compared to controls. In general, the studies were of good methodological quality, but all showed some risk of bias. The main methodological issue was the lack of comparison of ultrasound findings with magnetic resonance imaging data. To conclude, ultrasound was found useful in the evaluation of fetal cortical development, showing that fetuses with CHD present some degree of delayed cortical development, but postnatal studies are needed to understand if it correlates with impaired neurodevelopment.

Indexed as

Cerebral CortexHeart Defects, CongenitalUltrasonography, PrenatalFemaleGestational AgeHumansPregnancy

Identifiers

PMID40714942
PMCPMC12530350

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.