Open Access

REVIEW

Improving Fetal Cardiovascular Care through the Fetal Cardiac Intervention Registry and the Fetal Heart Society

Whitnee Hogan^1,2,*, Thomas S. Przybycien^3,4, Anita J. Moon-Grady^3,4

1 Division of Pediatric Cardiology, Department of Pediatrics, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
2 Primary Children’s Hospital, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
3 Division of Pediatric Cardiology, Department of Pediatrics, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
4 UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital, San Francisco, CA, USA

* Corresponding Author: Whitnee Hogan. Email:

(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Registries in Congenital Heart Disease)

Structural and Congenital Heart Disease 2026, 21(3), 6 https://doi.org/10.32604/schd.2026.085038

Received 04 May 2026; Accepted 23 July 2026; Issue published 31 July 2026

Abstract

Improvements in fetal cardiac imaging have highlighted the need for large, multidisciplinary collaborations to further advance fetal cardiovascular care. The Fetal Cardiac Intervention Registry (IFCIR), established in 2011, aims to improve outcomes in fetuses with congenital heart disease (CHD) considered amenable to fetal cardiac intervention (FCI). The registry compiles data from multiple international centers to better define indications, selection criteria, procedural techniques, complications, and outcomes of FCI. The Fetal Heart Society (FHS), founded in 2014, is a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the understanding of in utero cardiovascular physiology through collaborative research, education and mentorship. The IFCIR includes more than 850 maternal-fetal dyads, including 458 fetal interventions from 29 international centers, and has provided important insights into procedural outcomes and the need for refined patient selection criteria to optimize fetal and neonatal outcomes. The FHS has grown to over 1100 members across 37 countries and has expanded its efforts in research, education, and mentorship. More than 20 multicenter research projects have been initiated, alongside the development of multiple educational resources, including lesion-specific materials and multidisciplinary webinars, as well as growing mentorship opportunities. The IFCIR and FHS have substantially advanced the field of fetal cardiovascular care through international collaboration. This narrative review summarizes their development, key contributions, and future opportunities to improve outcomes in fetal CHD.

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