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Updated: May 8, 2026

Human Fetal Blood Flow Quantification with Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Motion Compensation
Published on: January 7, 2021
Aorta structural alterations in term neonates: the role of birth and maternal characteristics
Marco Matteo Ciccone1, Pietro Scicchitano, Christian Salerno
1Cardiovascular Disease Section, Department of Emergency and Organ Transplantation, University of Bari, Piazza G Cesare 11, 70124 Bari, Italy. marcomatteo.ciccone@uniba.it
Aim:
To evaluate the influence of selected maternal and neonatal characteristics on aorta walls in term, appropriately grown-for-gestational age newborns.
Methods:
Age, parity, previous abortions, weight, height, body mass index before and after delivery, smoking, and history of hypertension, of diabetes, of cardiovascular diseases, and of dyslipidemia were all assessed in seventy mothers. They delivered 34 males and 36 females healthy term newborns who underwent ultrasound evaluation of the anteroposterior infrarenal abdominal aorta diameter (APAO), biochemical profile (glucose, insulin, total cholesterol, HDL and LDL cholesterol, triglycerides, fibrinogen, and D-dimers homeostasis model assessment [HOMAIR]index), and biometric parameters.
Results:
APAO was related to newborn length (r = +0.36; P = 0.001), head circumference (r = +0.37; P = 0.001), gestational age (r = +0.40, P = 0.0005), HOMA index (r = +0.24; P = 0.04), and D-dimers (r = +0.33, P = 0.004). Smoke influenced APAO values (odds ratio: 1.80; confidence interval 95%: 1.05-3.30), as well as diabetes during pregnancy (r = +0.42, P = 0.0002). Maternal height influenced neonatal APAO (r = +0.47, P = 0.00003). Multiple regression analysis outlined neonatal D-dimers as still significantly related to neonatal APAO values.
Conclusions:
Many maternal and neonatal characteristics could influence aorta structures. Neonatal D-dimers are independently related to APAO.
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