INTRODUCTION Forty percent of Down syndrome (DS) fetuses have congenital heart defects (CHD). An abnormal angiogenic environment has been described in euploid fetuses with CHD. However, the underlying pathophysiologic pathway that contributes to CHD in DS remains unknown. The objective was to compare the expression of angiogenic factors and chronic hypoxia genes in heart tissue from DS and eupl...

OBJECTIVE Congenital diaphragmatic hernia is one of the severe congenital pulmonary anomaly (PA) associated with pulmonary hypoplasia, pulmonary sequestration and severe respiratory distress. The aim of this study was to present difference between measurements of the size of fetal pulmonary artery and pulmonary branches (PB) in normal growth fetuses and comparison with the same in fetuses with ...

BACKGROUND The mechanisms responsible for the increased susceptibility of fetuses to cytomegalovirus (CMV) were studied by comparing CD8(+) T cell responses to the virus in susceptible fetuses to those in their comparatively more resistant mothers. METHODS Included in the study were 16 transmitter mothers who underwent seroconversion during the first trimester of pregnancy as well as their fe...

To investigate the effect of intrauterine positions on fetal growth throughout gestation, data from a total of 65 gilts (n = 784 fetuses) that were slaughtered at assigned days of gestation (d 43, 58, 73, 91, 101, and 108) on a project to evaluate fetal mineral deposition were used. Placenta units were removed from the uterus, and position, sex, weight, and crown-rump length (CRL) of each fetus...

OBJECTIVE In this study, we wanted to model the emergence of coupling between fetal cardiac and somatic activity in normal and at-risk fetuses. STUDY DESIGN One hundred six fetuses of uncomplicated pregnancies were longitudinally monitored at 20, 24, 28, 32, 36, and 38 weeks of gestation by using a fetal actocardiograph and computerized data collection. Twenty-six fetuses of complicated pregn...

Insulin deficiency affects the adult metabolic response to undernutrition, but its effects on the fetal response to maternal undernutrition remain unknown. This study examined the effects of maternal fasting for 48 h in late gestation on the metabolism of fetal sheep made insulin deficient by pancreatectomy (PX). The endocrine and metabolic responses to maternal fasting differed between intact,...

PURPOSE To find out whether nuchal cord causes an effect on the nuchal skin fold thickness (NFT) measurements, or not. PATIENTS AND METHODS A total of 242 fetuses with normal outcomes that had undergone detailed second trimester US scan between 18 and 24 weeks of gestation were included in the study. NFT measurements were made on axial cranial US images passing through the cerebellum and cavu...

In utero infection of fetuses of six specific-pathogen-free large white sows at 35, 48, 55, 72, 99, and 105 days was studied. The fetuses were infected by direct inoculation of porcine parvovirus into the amniotic sac. The inoculation consisted of 0.25 ml of tissue culture fluid containing 10(5.5) mean tissue culture infective doses per ml of porcine parvovirus strain G10/1. Fetuses of one uter...

Mice produce litters containing many pups, and the female fetuses that develop between male fetuses have significantly higher concentrations of the male sex steroid testosterone in both their blood and amniotic fluid than do females that develop between other female fetuses. These two types of females differ during later life in many sexually related characteristics. Thus, individual variation ...

SGA fetuses are a heterogeneous group comprising fetuses that have failed to achieve their growth potential (fetal growth restriction, FGR) and fetuses that are constitutionally small. Approximately 50–70% of fetuses with a birthweight below tenth centile for gestational age are constitutionally small, and the lower the centile for defining SGA, the higher the likelihood of FGR. On the other ha...