Influence of birth weight on fetal cardiac indices at 35–37 weeks' gestation
Ultrasound in Obstetrics & Gynecology Jan 15, 2021
Semmler J, Abdel‐Azim S, Anzoategui S, et al. - In this study, the relationships between fetal cardiac morphology and function and birth weight, as a continuous variable, as well as uterine artery (UtA) pulsatility index (PI), as an indirect measure of placental perfusion, and the cerebroplacental ratio (CPR), as an indirect measure of fetal oxygenation were examined. Researchers performed a prospective study including a total of 1,498 women with singleton pregnancy undergoing routine ultrasound examination at 35 + 0 to 36 + 6 weeks' gestation. In the study, one-hundred forty-six (9.7%) small‐for‐gestational‐age fetuses with birth weight < 10th percentile and 68 (4.5%) with fetal growth restriction were included. At 35–37 weeks' gestation, this screening study has indicated that birth weight is a determinant of fetal cardiac morphology and function but UtA‐PI and CPR, as indirect measures of placental perfusion and fetal oxygenation, are not. This implies that the variations in fetal cardiac indices between small and appropriately grown fetuses may be part of a normal physiological response to change in fetal size rather than part of a pathological adaptation to abnormal placental perfusion and fetal oxygenation.
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