Ethical considerations in fetal cardiology

Authors

Stefani Samples, Division of Pediatric Cardiology, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL 60611, USA.
Rupali Gandhi, Advocate Health - MidwestFollow
Joyce Woo, Division of Pediatric Cardiology, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL 60611, USA.
Angira Patel, Division of Pediatric Cardiology, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL 60611, USA.

Recommended Citation

Samples S, Gandhi R, Woo J, Patel A. Ethical Considerations in Fetal Cardiology. J Cardiovasc Dev Dis. 2024;11(6):172. Published 2024 Jun 1. doi:10.3390/jcdd11060172

Affiliations

Advocate Christ Children's Hospital, Oak Lawn, IL

Abstract

Fetal cardiology has evolved over the last 40 years and changed the timing of diagnosis and counseling of congenital heart disease, decision-making, planning for treatment at birth, and predicting future surgery from the postnatal to the prenatal period. Ethical issues in fetal cardiology transect multiple aspects of biomedical ethics including improvement in prenatal detection and diagnostic capabilities, access to equitable comprehensive care that preserves a pregnant person's right to make decisions, access to all reproductive options, informed consent, complexity in shared decision-making, and appropriate use of fetal cardiac interventions. This paper first reviews the literature and then provides an ethical analysis of accurate and timely diagnosis, equitable delivery of care, prenatal counseling and shared decision-making, and innovation through in utero intervention.

Type

Article

PubMed ID

38921672