fetal cardiac disease | Page 11

BACKGROUND: Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are regarded as a novel class of noncoding RNA regulators. Although a number of circRNAs have been identified by bioinformatics analysis of RNA-seq data, tissue and disease-specific circRNAs are still to be uncovered to promote their application in basic research and clinical practice. The purpose of this study was to explore the circRNA profiles in human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) and hiPSC-derived cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CMs), and to identify cardiac or disease-specific circRNAs...

Neonatal cardiomyocytes cultured on flat surfaces are commonly used as a model to study cardiac failure of diverse origin. A major drawback of such a system is that the cardiomyocytes do not exhibit alignment, organization and calcium transients, similar to the native heart. Therefore, there is a need to develop in vitro platforms that recapitulate the cellular microenvironment of the murine heart as organotypic models to study cardiovascular diseases. In this study, we report an engineered platform that mimics cardiac cell organization and function of the heart...

Human diseases are often caused by loss of somatic cells that are incapable of re-entering the cell cycle for regenerative repair. Here, we report a combination of cell-cycle regulators that induce stable cytokinesis in adult post-mitotic cells. We screened cell-cycle regulators expressed in proliferating fetal cardiomyocytes and found that overexpression of cyclin-dependent kinase 1 (CDK1), CDK4, cyclin B1, and cyclin D1 efficiently induced cell division in post-mitotic mouse, rat, and human cardiomyocytes...

In Africa, a large number of pregnancies are exposed to Plasmodium falciparum infection. The in-utero environment extremely influences childhood neurodevelopment and behaviour. The complement 5a receptor (C5aR) is linked to several disease conditions. However, the influence of Plasmodium berghei during pregnancy on maternal complement 5a receptor and subsequently on fetal behaviour is unknown. Pregnant mice were intra-peritoneally inoculated on gestational day 13 with 1.02x105 infected red blood cells (iRBCs)...

Objective: Congenital heart defects represent the most common major congenital anomalies. The objective of this review was to define the most common forms of congenital heart disease (CHD) in pregnancy, outline preconception counseling, discuss the associated morbidity and mortality of each lesion, and review current recommendations for management of CHD in pregnancy. Evidence Acquisition: A MEDLINE search of "congenital heart disease in pregnancy" and specific conditions in pregnancy including "ventricular septal defect," "atrial septal defect," "left outflow obstruction," "right outflow obstruction," "tetralogy of Fallot," and "transposition of the great vessels" was performed...

Emerging evidence from murine studies suggests that mammalian sex determination is the outcome of an imbalance between mutually antagonistic male and female regulatory networks that canalize development down one pathway while actively repressing the other. However, in contrast to testis formation, the gene regulatory pathways governing mammalian ovary development have remained elusive. We performed exome or Sanger sequencing on 79 46,XX SRY-negative individuals with either unexplained virilization or with testicular/ovotesticular disorders/differences of sex development (TDSD/OTDSD)...

BACKGROUND: Most early preterm births are associated with intraamniotic infection and inflammation, which can lead to systemic inflammation in the fetus. The fetal inflammatory response syndrome describes elevations in the fetal interleukin-6 level, which is a marker for inflammation and fetal organ injury. An understanding of the effects of inflammation on fetal cardiac development may lead to insight into the fetal origins of adult cardiovascular disease. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to determine whether the fetal inflammatory response syndrome is associated with disruptions in gene networks that program fetal cardiac development...

BACKGROUND: Preeclampsia and fetal growth restriction are considered to be placentally mediated disorders. The clinical manifestations are widely held to relate to gestation age at onset with early- and late-onset preeclampsia considered to be phenotypically distinct. Recent studies have reported conflicting findings in relation to cardiovascular function, and in particular cardiac output, in preeclampsia and fetal growth restriction. OBJECTIVE: We conducted this study to examine the possible relation between cardiac output and peripheral vascular resistance in preeclampsia and fetal growth restriction...

BACKGROUND Troponin I is the gold standard for the diagnosis of adult acute coronary syndrome. Although it is known that a hypoxic fetus may produce cTnI, fetal cTnI passage in maternal blood has never been documented. CASE REPORT We report a case where the rise of cTnI in the blood of a pregnant woman was not related to maternal heart disease. Instead, it might be suggestive of a fetal cardiac origin, as there was a severe placental insufficiency with a fetal intrauterine growth restriction. CONCLUSIONS This study suggests that the rise of cTnI in maternal blood in a cardiovascular healthy pregnant woman might have a fetal origin...

OBJECTIVES: To determine cardiac and fetal/neonatal event rates among pregnant women with premature ventricular contractions (PVCs) and compare with control groups. METHODS: Prospective case-control cohort study: 53 consecutive pregnancies in 49 women referred to the St. Paul's Hospital between 2010 and 2016 with PVC burden >1% in women without underlying cardiac disease. Maternal cardiac and fetal/neonatal outcomes were compared with two pregnant control groups: (1) supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) group of 53 women referred for a history of SVT/SVT in the current pregnancy and (2) low-risk group of 53 women with no cardiac disease...

OBJECTIVE: Pregnancies complicated with PHT are serious debates for obstetricians due to high maternal and fetal complication potentials. The aim of the study was to present our maternofetal outcomes in pregnant women with pulmonary hypertension. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study was performed using data extracted from the medical files of 23 pregnancies of 18 patients with PHT who were followed-up in the obstetrics and gynecology department. RESULTS: The average age was 27...

OBJECTIVES: To study pregnancy outcomes in operated vs non-operated cases of congenital heart disease cases during pregnancy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 55 patients of congenital heart disease who delivered in the authors unit in last 10 years were taken in this retrospective study. These were divided into two groups Group 1:29 (52.7%) patient who had no cardiac surgery and Group 2: 26(47.2%) who had cardiac surgery to correct their cardiac defect before pregnancy...

This article reviews important features to improve the diagnosis of congenital heart disease (CHD) by applying ultrasound in prenatal cardiac screening. As low and high-risk pregnancies for CHD are subject to routine obstetric ultrasound, the diagnosis of structural heart defects represents a challenge that involves a team of specialists and subspecialists on fetal ultrasonography. In this review, the images highlight normal anatomy of the heart as well as pathologic cases consistent with cardiac malposition and isomerism, septal defects, pulmonary stenosis/atresia, aortic malformations, hypoplastic left ventricle, conotruncal anomalies, tricuspid dysplasia, and Ebstein's anomaly, and univentricular heart, among other congenital cardiovascular defects...

In the modern world, cardiovascular disease is a leading cause of death for both men and women. Epidemiologic studies consistently have suggested an association between low birthweight and/or fetal growth restriction and increased rate of cardiovascular mortality in adulthood. Furthermore, experimental and clinical studies have demonstrated that sustained nutrient and oxygen restriction that are associated with fetal growth restriction activate adaptive cardiovascular changes that might explain this association...

BACKGROUND: The aim of the present study was to evaluate tadalafil for the treatment of fetal growth restriction (FGR) and the cardiac function in pregnant women without cardiovascular disease who used tadalafil for this reason. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We examined nine pregnant women without cardiovascular disease who were using tadalafil to treat FGR. Maternal heart rate, systolic blood pressure (BP), and echocardiographic findings were assessed before and after tadalafil use...

OBJECTIVE:  To assess fetal cardiac remodeling in response to anemia, by comparing the fetal cardiac dimensions and global sphericity index (GSI) of normal fetuses and fetuses with anemia using fetal Hb Bart's disease as a study model. METHODS:  Fetuses at risk for Hb Bart's disease undergoing cordocentesis at 18 to 22 weeks of gestation were recruited. Fetal cardiac dimensions including GSI (cardiac length to cardiac width ratio), interventricular septum thickness (IVST), left ventricular wall thickness (LVWT) and right ventricular wall thickness (RVWT) were measured...

INTRODUCTION: Joubert syndrome (JS) is a rare autosomal recessive inherited disease belonging to ciliopathy with the causative mutation of genes. Except for X-linked inheritance, the high recurrence rate of a family is about 25%. After birth, it may cause a series of neurological symptoms, even with retina, kidney, liver, and other organ abnormalities, which is defined as Joubert syndrome and related disorders (JSRD). Molecular genetics research contributes to disease prediction and genetic counseling...

Epigenetic mechanisms and transcription factor networks essential for differentiation of cardiac myocytes have been uncovered. However, reshaping of the epigenome of these terminally differentiated cells during fetal development, postnatal maturation, and in disease remains unknown. Here, we investigate the dynamics of the cardiac myocyte epigenome during development and in chronic heart failure. We find that prenatal development and postnatal maturation are characterized by a cooperation of active CpG methylation and histone marks at cis-regulatory and genic regions to shape the cardiac myocyte transcriptome...

OBJECTIVE: Suboptimal cardiac imaging on obstetric ultrasound is a frequent referral indication for fetal echocardiography, even in the absence of typical risk factors for fetal cardiac disease. The clinical profile of patients and findings of examinations performed for such an indication are not well defined. Given the increased cost, time and resource utilization of fetal echocardiography, we sought to determine the clinical findings of such referrals. STUDY DESIGN: We performed a single-center review of such referrals from January 2010 to June 2016...

BACKGROUND: Preterm birth has been associated with increased risk of cardiovascular morbidity in adult life. We evaluated whether preterm birth is associated with deviating cardiac structure and function before school start. METHODS AND RESULTS: In total, 176 children aged 6 years and born extremely preterm (EXPT; gestational age of 22-26 weeks) and 134 children born at term (control [CTRL]) were studied. We used echocardiography to assess left heart dimensions, geometry, and functions...