Cardiac function in gestational diabetes mellitus: A longitudinal study from fetal life to infancy

Abstract

Objective: To determine whether cardiac functional and structural changes in fetuses of mothers with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) persist in the offspring beyond the neonatal period. Design: Longitudinal study Setting: Fetal Medicine Unit in a UK teaching hospital Population: 73 women with GDM and 73 women with uncomplicated pregnancy were recruited and fetal cardiac scans were performed at 35-36 weeks' gestation. Repeat echocardiogram was performed in their offspring during infancy. Main outcome measures: Fetal and infant cardiac functional and structural changes Results: Fetuses of mothers with GDM, compared to controls, had more globular right ventricles (sphericity index 0.7, IQR 0.6/0.7 vs 0.6, IQR 0.5/ 0.6, p<0.001) and reduced right global longitudinal systolic strain p=0.001) and left global longitudinal systolic strain (-20.1, IQR -22.5/-16.9 vs -21.3, IQR -23.5/-19.5), p=0.021). In the GDM group, compared to controls, in infancy there was higher left ventricular E/e' (

Analysis of the application value of speckle-tracking imaging technology to assess fetal cardiac function in the early second trimester

“…Screening for fetal cardiac malformation in the early second trimester is accurate [5] , and it is feasible and clinically signi cant to move the time window of prenatal diagnosis of fetal congenital heart disease forward. A large number of studies have shown that fetal cardiac function evaluation has important clinical value in the management and prognosis of gestational hypertension, gestational diabetes mellitus, and fetal congenital heart disease, among other diseases [6][7][8][9] . However, most studies have focused on the ultrasound assessment of fetal cardiac structure and function in the second or third trimesters, while few studies have focused on fetal cardiac function before 18 weeks of gestation.…”