fetal cardiac disease

Ghrelin is a relatively novel multifaceted hormone that has been found to exert a plethora of physiological effects. In this review, we found/confirmed that ghrelin has effect on all body systems. It induces appetite; promotes the use of carbohydrates as a source of fuel while sparing fat; inhibits lipid oxidation and promotes lipogenesis; stimulates the gastric acid secretion and motility; improves cardiac performance; decreases blood pressure; and protects the kidneys, heart, and brain. Ghrelin is important for learning, memory, cognition, reward, sleep, taste sensation, olfaction, and sniffing...

Patient-derived human pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hPSC-CMs) are increasingly being used for disease modeling, drug screening and regenerative medicine. However, to date, an immature, fetal-like, phenotype of hPSC-CMs restrains their full potential. Increasing evidence suggests that the metabolic state, particularly important for provision of sufficient energy in highly active contractile CMs and anabolic and regulatory processes, plays an important role in cardiomyocyte maturation, which affects crucial functional aspects of CMs, such as contractility and electrophysiology...

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to investigate the technical feasibility and accuracy of applying 3-dimensional (3D) printing of normal and abnormal fetal hearts based on spatiotemporal image correlation (STIC) volume-rendered data. METHODS: Spatiotemporal image correlation volume images of 15 healthy fetuses and 15 fetuses with cardiac abnormalities were collected, and Mimics software (Materialise NV, Leuven, Belgium) was used to postprocess the volume data to obtain a 3D digital model of fetal heart and large blood vessel morphologic characteristics and to output the file to a 3D printer for printing the 3D model of the fetal heart and large blood vessels...

BACKGROUND: Severe fetal anemias can cause high output cardiac failure. Mitochondria are key regulators of cardiac function. However, the effects of an early phase of fetal anemia on the fetal heart and cardiac mitochondrial function are not known. OBJECTIVE: To compare mitochondrial function and cardiac biochemical alterations in the fetal cardiac tissue between anemic and nonanemic fetuses. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted in Fetuses affected by Hb Bart's disease (n=18) and non-anemic fetuses (n=10) at 17-20 weeks...

OBJECTIVE: Pregnancy complicated by preeclampsia and fetal growth restriction (FGR) relates to increased risk of cardiovascular disease later in life, but to different extents. Subclinical cardiac alterations precede eminent cardiovascular disease. Speckle-tracking echocardiography is an elegant method to assess subclinical myocardial dysfunction. We performed a myocardial speckle tracking study to evaluate the prevalence of subclinical myocardial dysfunction in former preeclampsia patients (with and without FGR) compared with normotensive women with FGR...

Objective: Congenital heart disease (CHD) is the most common birth defect and represents the leading cause for mortality and morbidity in infants and young adults. Early fetal echocardiography is usually considered a highly specialized scan. The goal of this study is to evaluate the impact of operator's experience in assessing still images of the 4-chamber view and 3-vessels view and to evaluate the feasibility and the performance of a first trimester screening protocol for CHD. Methods: An online questionnaire consisting of still images of the 4-camber view and 3-vessel view from 50 normal and abnormal cases was reviewed by an expert group made of seven obstetricians specialized in fetal medicine and a nonexpert group made of 13 obstetricians that are certified in ultrasound...

OBJECTIVES: We aimed to explore the value of the post-left atrium space (PLAS) index in the diagnosis of total anomalous pulmonary venous connection (TAPVC) and the effect of other congenital heart diseases on the PLAS index in the fetus. METHODS: The PLAS index of 69 fetuses with TAPVC was analyzed retrospectively. Approximately 252 healthy fetuses were randomly selected as controls, and 110 cases of intracardiac malformations were randomly selected for comparison...

Cardiac disease is the leading cause of maternal mortality in the United Kingdom. Major causes of cardiac death in pregnant women include cardiomyopathies, myocardial infarction, ischemic heart disease, and aortic dissection. Uncorrected congenital heart disease and women who have had corrective or palliative surgery may have complicated pregnancies as well. Some women with significant cardiac disease are unable to meet the increased physiological demands of pregnancy. Of these, those who do not respond to medical treatment may require surgical correction such as coronary artery bypass grafting...

Objective: Heart disease in pregnancy can cause clinical deterioration and maternal-fetal death. It is essential to evaluate risk factors related to complications. Method: Observational, analytical retrospective cohort study with a non-probabilistic convenience sample of pregnant women with congenital or acquired heart disease, corrected or not, or arrhythmias requiring urgent intervention. Patients with mild or moderate valvular regurgitation, mild valvular stenosis, patients without echocardiography or without delivery information were excluded...

Atmospheric fine particulate matter exposure (PM2.5 ) can increase the incidence and mortality of heart disease, and raise the risk of fetal congenital heart defect, which have recently drawn much attention. In this study, C57BL/6 mice were exposed to PM2.5 (approximately equivalent to 174 μg/m3 ) by intratracheal instillation during the gestation. After birth, 10 weeks old offspring mice were divided into four groups: male exposed group (ME), female exposed group (FE), male control group (MC), female control group (FC)...

Actin α2 (ACTA2) is a protein crucial for proper functioning of contractile apparatus in smooth muscles. A specific mutation resulting in substitution of arginine at position 179 by histidine (p.R179 H) in ACTA2 has been shown to be associated with multisystemic smooth muscle dysfunction syndrome. Characteristic features include aneurysmal arterial disease. Due to rarity of this disease, we report a nine-year-old girl with this rare genetic variant in whom cardiovascular manifestations were identified in fetal life and who needed neonatal cardiac surgical intervention...

BACKGROUND: Tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) is an autosomal dominant neurocutaneous disease with multisystem involvement. CASE: Here, a mother and infant couple was presented with maternal and fetal TSC including demonstrative clinical findings and genetic analysis. The interesting point of this case report is that maternal and fetal TSC was identified after the mother gave birth to a child with a cardiac rhabdomyoma. The genetic analysis revealed a novel mutation which was the same in both the mother and her infant...

Maternal diabetes induces fetal programming of cardiovascular diseases. Diabetes induced-cardiac fibrosis is a process that may start in utero and may be related to the prooxidant/proinflammatory environment. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of a maternal diet enriched in olive oil on the levels of components and regulators of the extracellular matrix, on prooxidant markers and on apoptosis rate in the heart of 21-day-old offspring of diabetic rats. Maternal diabetes was induced by neonatal administration of streptozotocin...

Ectopic pregnancy occurs when a fertilized ovum implants outside of the uterine cavity. In the United States, the estimated prevalence of ectopic pregnancy is 1% to 2%, and ruptured ectopic pregnancy accounts for 2.7% of pregnancy-related deaths. Risk factors include a history of pelvic inflammatory disease, cigarette smoking, fallopian tube surgery, previous ectopic pregnancy, and infertility. Ectopic pregnancy should be considered in any patient presenting early in pregnancy with vaginal bleeding or lower abdominal pain in whom intrauterine pregnancy has not yet been established...

Hypoxia is a common form of intrauterine stress characterized by exposure to low oxygen concentrations. Gestational hypoxia is associated with the generation of reactive oxygen species. Increase in oxidative stress is responsible for damage to proteins, lipids and DNA with consequent impairment of normal cellular functions. The purpose of this review is to propose a summary of preclinical and clinical evidences designed to outline the correlation between fetal hypoxia and oxidative stress. The results of the studies described show that increases of oxidative stress in the placenta is responsible for changes in fetal development...

F-box and WD repeat domain-containing 7 (FBXW7) is an E3-ubiquitin ligase, which serves as one of the components of the SKP1, CUL1, and F-box protein type ubiquitin ligase (SCF) complex. Previous studies reveal that FBXW7 participates in cancer, inflammation and Parkinson's disease. FBXW7 also contributes to angiogenesis of endothelial cells. However, the function of FBXW7 in cardiac homeostasis remains to elucidate. Here we identified the critical role of FBXW7 during cardiac hypertrophy in humans and rodents...

KEY POINTS: The application of fetal cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) to assess fetal cardiovascular physiology and cardiac function through the quantification of ventricular volumes has previously been investigated, but the approach has not yet been fully validated. Ventricular output measurements calculated from heart rate and stroke volumes (SV) of the right and left ventricles measured by ventricular volumetry (VV) exhibited a high level of agreement with phase-contrast (PC) blood flow measurements in the main pulmonary artery and ascending aorta, respectively...

Congenital heart disease (CHD) is the leading organ-specific birth defect, as well as the leading cause of infant morbidity and mortality from congenital malformations. Therefore, a comprehensive screening examination of the fetal heart should be performed in all women to maximize the detection of CHD. Four-dimensional sonography with spatiotemporal image correlation (STIC) technology displays a cine loop of a complete single cardiac cycle in motion. A novel method known as Fetal Intelligent Navigation Echocardiography (or FINE) was previously developed to interrogate STIC volume datasets using "intelligent navigation" technology...

Early diagnosis of congenital heart disease (CHD) can improve the prognosis of neonates with CHD. We retrospectively evaluated the value of prenatal diagnosis of CHD by comparing the pregnancy outcomes. Prenatal diagnosis of CHD was established by echocardiographic evaluation of fetal heart. Amniotic fluid and/or cord blood genetic examination, pathological anatomy, casting specimen, and/or multidisciplinary-joint consultation (MDJC) were performed. A total of 1492 fetuses with CHD were diagnosed by prenatal echocardiography from 67834 pregnant women...

Heart failure (HF) management is challenging due to high clinical heterogeneity of this disease which makes patients responding differently to evidence-based standard therapy established by the current reductionist approach. Better understanding of the genetic and epigenetic interactions may clarify molecular signatures underlying maladaptive responses in HF, including metabolic shift, myocardial injury, fibrosis, and mitochondrial dysfunction. DNA methylation, histone modifications and micro-RNA (miRNAs) may be major epigenetic players in the pathogenesis of HF...