Although fetal pulmonary trunk (PT) blood pressure may exceed aortic trunk (AoT) pressure, the specific mechanism(s) underlying this pressure difference remain undefined. To evaluate the potential role of ventricular and vascular factors in the generation of a fetal PT-AoT pressure difference, nine anesthetized late-gestation fetal sheep were instrumented with PT and AoT micromanometer catheter...

OBJECTIVES Fetal aortic valvuloplasty can improve filling and reduce afterload of the left ventricle in critical aortic stenosis. Success of an intrauterine intervention is currently measured by technical success, clinical survival and eventual postnatal biventricular physiology. In the present study we investigated the use of tissue Doppler imaging (TDI) to evaluate changes in ventricular func...

Anthracyclines are used to treat cancers during the second and third trimester of pregnancy. The chemotherapeutic effect of anthracyclines is associated with a doseand time-dependent cardiotoxicity that is well described for infants and adults. However, data regarding fetal anthracycline-related cardiotoxicity after administration of chemotherapeutics during pregnancy are limited. In this study...

T he fetal circulation works in parallel with the dominant right ventricle, ejecting approximately 60% of the combined ventricular output. Three important communications exist between the two circulations (oval foramen and the arterial and venous ducts) that influence loading conditions. In particular, the determinants of fetal left ventricular filling differ considerably from those seen in the...

background: cardiac dysfunction due to chronic anemia and hemosiderosis are the major causes of death among patients with thalassemia intermedia. this study was performed to compare the cardiac function in thalassemia intermedia patients with normal subjects by means of echocardiography. materials and methods: this was a case-control study performed on 22 patients affected by thalassemia interm...

Alternative methods to assess ventricular diastolic function in the fetus are proposed. Fetal myocardial hypertrophy in maternal diabetes was used as a model of decreased left ventricular compliance (LVC), and fetal respiratory movements as a model of increased LVC. Comparison of three groups of fetuses showed that, in 10 fetuses of diabetic mothers (FDM) with septal hypertrophy (SH), the mean ...

conclusions silent ventricular systolic dysfunction was more common in the patients with sle than in the control group. newer echocardiographic techniques such as two-dimensional ste provide an earlier chance for the detection of subclinical lv systolic dysfunction. our findings were independent of the traditional risk factors. results the mean duration of sle was 5.5 ± 3.4 years in our patient...

BACKGROUND Fetal growth impacts cardiovascular health throughout postnatal life in humans. Various animal models of intrauterine growth restriction exhibit reduced heart size at birth, which negatively influences cardiac function in adulthood. The mechanistic target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) integrates nutrient and growth factor availability with cell growth, thereby regulating organ size...

We show, through correlation of fetal, neonatal, and necropsy brain sonography, that the three-parallel-echogenic-line configuration classically thought to represent fetal lateral ventricular margins on high axial images are actually extraventricular, lying within cerebral white matter. Accurate sonographic identification of fetal hydrocephalus is essential for appropriate patient management. B...