Fetal phonocardiography is a technique for analyzing cardiac activity by recording sound waves resulting from heart contractions and dilatations. It is an objective, in-depth and detailed listening of the heart. It is used mainly in obstetric practice, since auscultation of the fetal heart often does not reveal abnormalities in the heart rhythm and tone characteristics. Phonocardiography helps to identify signs of fetal hypoxia, fetal heart rhythm disorders, valvular heart defects, umbilical cord entanglement.
Indications of fetal phonocardiography
Fetal phonocardiography in conjunction with other diagnostic procedures is used to monitor the condition of the child’s heart during pregnancy. Unlike auscultation, a phonocardiograph distinguishes between low-frequency components of sound vibrations accompanying cardiac activity and notes pathological deviations from the norm.
This technique is used in obstetrics to detect developing fetal hypoxia at an early stage, when there are no deviations according to auscultation data. Phonocardiography of the fetus allows you to diagnose the entanglement of the umbilical cord (characteristic noises of its vessels are noted), identify defects of the valvular apparatus of the heart, analyze the work of the myocardium. Phonocardiography in the first period of labor allows you to track the condition of the child at the peaks of contractions.