To investigate the incidence and prognosis of fetal non-structural cardiovascular abnormalities in pregnant women with anxiety during pregnancy by ultrasonography.

From June 2018 to February 2020, 807 pregnant women who underwent fetal echocardiography and psychological screening in the early, middle, and late pregnancy were selected and re-examined at the psychiatric department, and all of them completed the self-rating scale evaluation for pregnancy anxiety in the early, middle, and late stages of pregnancy. Echocardiography was also performed in the 1-year-old infants. Among the woman included, 218 with anxiety during pregnancy were included in an anxiety group, and 233 with no anxiety during pregnancy were included in a control group. Cases with fetal cardiac structural abnormalities detected by ultrasound before or after birth were excluded. A comparative analysis was performed on the incidence of non-structural cardiovascular abnormalities in the two groups of fetuses and their prognosis after the first year of life.

The total incidence of fetal non-structural cardiovascular abnormalities and arrhythmia in the anxiety group were 29.4% (64/218) and 9.6% (21/218), respectively, which were significantly higher than those in the control group were [9.0% (21/233) and 3.4% (8/233), respectively] (P＜0.01 for both). The incidence of moderate tricuspid regurgitation and enlargement of the right atrium was also significantly higher in the anxiety group than in the control group [4.1% (9/218) vs 0.9% (2/233), P＜0.05; 6.4% (14/218) vs 2.1% (5/233), P＜0.05]. There was no significant difference in the incidence of non-structural cardiovascular abnormalities (arrhythmia, pericardial effusion, right ventricular enlargement, left ventricular enlargement, right atrial enlargement, left atrial enlargement, left atrial enlargement, and moderate tricuspid regurgitation and above) between the two groups after the first year of life of the fetus (P＞0.05 for all).

The incidence of fetal non-structural cardiac abnormalities is higher in pregnant women with gestational anxiety. Clinical attention should be paid to the psychological counseling of pregnant women during pregnancy. Some non-structural abnormalities in the heart of the fetus can return to normal after birth, so it should not be over-interpreted, so as not to aggravate the anxiety of pregnant women during pregnancy and cause excessive induction of labor.