View clinical trials related to Fetal Development.
Filter by:Fetal brain MRI is an essential diagnostic tool to inform parents about the prognosis of abnormalities detected on routine ultrasound. Recent work has shown that brain MRI measurements at the antenatal stage are predictive of the child's postnatal development. However, this work remains limited to basic research, in part because of the lack of normative curves of brain tissue volume evolution from fetal MRI acquired in clinical routine. This project aims to fill this gap. For this purpose, the project will exploit fetal MRI scans acquired in 4 French hospitals (Marseille, Nice, Montpellier and Paris): MRI scans without abnormalities will be centralized for analysis, and families who have undergone these scans will be contacted to evaluate the development of their children after birth. Normative curves will be established by applying a set of treatments developed by the laboratory in Marseille collaborating in the project. Ultimately, these curves will help to clarify the diagnosis of fetuses by providing a quantitative characterization of the normality of brain measurements.
The Mediterranean-style diet has been associated with longevity, long-life wellbeing, lower risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer, obesity, and metabolic syndrome. Research is pointing to the benefits that MeD could have in pregnant. Pregnancy is a very complex period and recently, the attention has been focused on the possibility that healthy dietary patterns positively influence pregnancy and the development of organs in the offspring. The mechanisms through which MeD influences pregnancy and fetal growth may partly depend on its antinflammatory properties and possibly on changes in epigenetic mechanisms. Systemic inflammation might contribute to the association between maternal obesity and less favorable neurodevelopmental outcomes. The investigators aim to define how maternal adhesion to MeD may affect pregnancy and new-born development, hence representing a notable burden from a public health and social perspective. Main objective of this project is to build up a birth cohort suitable to investigate the role of maternal dietary habits on maternal and new-born health, with special focus on MeD and its possible mechanism of action through epigenetic and inflammation changes. To establish a mother/new-born cohort, collect detailed information on maternal dietary habits and set-up a biobank of biological samples to evaluate the association between dietary habits and pregnancy outcomes. The investigators will recruit 2000 pairs (mother, new-born) in different obstetrics departments. To investigate the association between maternal dietary habits, foetal growth and offspring development and possible mediation by the inflammation profile of the mother. To understand whether maternal dietary habits are associated with epigenetic changes in the offspring and if this process is driven by the inflammation profile of the mother. Venous blood samples will be obtained at the baseline and at each gestational period for ultrasound at 11-13 gestational weeks, 20-22 weeks and 30-32 weeks. Women will be followed-up with standard clinical and 2D ultrasound examinations at gestational weeks 11-13, 20-22 and 30-32 to evaluate the fetal growth. Offspring development will be assessed at 6, 12, 18, 24 months of age. After delivery, the investigators will collect umbilical cord blood and saliva samples from new-born using standard procedures. To understand if new-born epigenetics is associated with infant physical and neurocognitive development in the following 2 years.
In-utero exposure to drugs and chemicals through maternal smoking, alcohol use, drug abuse, prescription medicines and occupational/lifestyle exposures is widespread. Such exposures can alter fetal development and programming, leading to the effects becoming "locked in" from birth and causing long-term adverse consequences for the individual. These include costly and widespread conditions such as obesity, hypertension, metabolic syndrome and infertility. The weight of evidence linking these conditions to fetal recreational drug or environmental chemical exposures, including cigarettes, alcohol, air pollution, food contact materials, is overwhelming. What is lacking is an understanding of how fetal drug exposure translates to adult ill-health and this is due, largely, to an inability to study the problem directly in affected human fetuses. The investigators, and others, have shown that human fetal development, which lays the foundations of adult health and function (fetal programming), is quite different from the rodent and frequently exhibits surprising aspects. It has become evident that the close interconnectivity of the developing fetal organs and also the placenta, means that a much more holistic approach to research aiming to understand human fetal development and the challenges posed to programming for a health adulthood is critical. To that end the investigators have established a carefully considered gestational age range (7-20 weeks of gestation) of fetuses we can study together with multiple fetal organs and body fluids collected and maternal information recorded. The overarching objective of the study is to intensively and systematically study the human fetus during a normal pregnancy and pregnancies where aspects of maternal lifestyle and environment will challenge the fetus. The investigators aim to provide fundamental information to better understand the mechanisms involved and to detect and treat or ameliorate adverse effects during pregnancy (such as maternal smoking/drinking, deprivation, exposure to pollution). In the long term findings from this research will be important for future studies aimed at enabling better health in later life.
The purpose of this study is to evaluate the fetal biophysical profile (BPP) scoring in pregnant women from 20 weeks-0 days' to 36 weeks-6 days' gestation. A biophysical profile (BPP) is a score that is intended to assess fetal well-being. This test will be performed within the expected time of the routine ultrasound exam.
Babies that are either very small or very big have increased perinatal morbidity and mortality. Predicting which babies will fall into these groups is traditionally done with risk assessment and third trimester manual palpation, however neither of these techniques are sensitive and a considerable number of affected pregnancies are missed. This results in stillbirth for small babies or birth trauma for larger ones. Serial scanning in the third trimester can improve detection rates but this is expensive and cannot currently be provided to all NHS patients. A more sensitive test that can be performed earlier in pregnancy would allow identification of at risk pregnancies allowing for increased monitoring. New three dimensional ultrasound techniques that measure volume and volumetric flow have become available that may allow this to happen. This study proposes to trial newer ultrasound techniques on a cohort of pregnant women. The findings from these scans will then be correlated with actual birth weights at the end of pregnancy to determine the ability of these parameters to act as screening tools for babies at the extremes of size.
Isolated mild fetal ventriculomegaly is a common finding in fetal ultrasound examinations. When the ventricular diameter is more than 15 mm it is usually considered as severe and connected to other malformations. Most of these children will be severely affected later in life. Less than 10 mm ventricular width considered as normal. The current medical knowledge can not answer questions regarding future development of children who were diagnosed to suffer from mild (10-14.9 mm) brain ventriculomegaly during the pregnancy. We would like to assess the development and neurological status of all children who were diagnosed as "mild ventriculomegaly" during the pregnancy in the last 6 years and to prospectively follow up all the children who will be diagnosed from the beginning of the study on for 6 years. We hypothesized that the course of their development is different than of other children.