Dakshita Jagota1, Hannah George1, Melissa Walker2,3, Anjana Ravi Chandran2, Natasha Milligan4, Shiri Shinar2, Clare L Whitehead5, Sebastian R Hobson2, Lena Serghides6,7,8, W Tony Parks9,10, Ahmet A Baschat11, Christopher K Macgowan12,13, John G Sled3,12,13,14, John C Kingdom2,3, Lindsay S Cahill15. 1. Department of Chemistry, Memorial University of Newfoundland, 283 Prince Philip Drive, St. John's, NL, A1B 3X7, Canada. 2. Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. 3. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. 4. Division of Cardiology, Department of Paediatrics, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. 5. Pregnancy Research Centre, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Royal Women's Hospital, Parkville, Australia. 6. Toronto General Hospital Research Institute, University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. 7. Department of Immunology and Institute of Medical Sciences, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. 8. Women's College Research Institute, Women's College Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. 9. Department of Pathology, Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. 10. Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. 11. Centre for Fetal Therapy, Johns Hopkins Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA. 12. Translational Medicine, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. 13. Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. 14. Mouse Imaging Centre, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. 15. Department of Chemistry, Memorial University of Newfoundland, 283 Prince Philip Drive, St. John's, NL, A1B 3X7, Canada. lcahill@mun.ca.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Fetal sex is known to affect pregnancy outcomes. In current clinical practice, monitoring of fetal well-being is based on Doppler ultrasound measurements of major placental and fetal vessels. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of fetal sex on Doppler parameters throughout gestation in healthy pregnancy. METHODS: A prospective study was conducted in 240 pregnant women with ultrasound examinations at a 4-weekly interval between 12 and 38 weeks of gestation. Pulsed Doppler spectra were collected for the umbilical arteries (UAs), middle cerebral artery (MCA), descending abdominal aorta (DAo), and ductus venosus (DV). Linear mixed effects models were used to determine if the pulsatility indices (PIs) of these vessels depended on gestational age and fetal sex. RESULTS: While there were no differences in the MCA PI and DV PIV over gestation between female and male fetuses, the trajectory of the UA and DAo PIs differed by fetal sex (p = 0.02 and p = 0.01, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Doppler ultrasound parameters were found to be dependent on fetal sex for some vessels and not for others in healthy pregnancies. Further investigations are needed to understand the physiological mechanisms for these sex differences and the relevance for disease processes in pregnancy.
BACKGROUND: Fetal sex is known to affect pregnancy outcomes. In current clinical practice, monitoring of fetal well-being is based on Doppler ultrasound measurements of major placental and fetal vessels. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of fetal sex on Doppler parameters throughout gestation in healthy pregnancy. METHODS: A prospective study was conducted in 240 pregnant women with ultrasound examinations at a 4-weekly interval between 12 and 38 weeks of gestation. Pulsed Doppler spectra were collected for the umbilical arteries (UAs), middle cerebral artery (MCA), descending abdominal aorta (DAo), and ductus venosus (DV). Linear mixed effects models were used to determine if the pulsatility indices (PIs) of these vessels depended on gestational age and fetal sex. RESULTS: While there were no differences in the MCA PI and DV PIV over gestation between female and male fetuses, the trajectory of the UA and DAo PIs differed by fetal sex (p = 0.02 and p = 0.01, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Doppler ultrasound parameters were found to be dependent on fetal sex for some vessels and not for others in healthy pregnancies. Further investigations are needed to understand the physiological mechanisms for these sex differences and the relevance for disease processes in pregnancy.
Entities:
Keywords:
Doppler ultrasound; Fetal sex; Pregnancy; Pulsatility index; Sex differences
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