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Characterizing fetoplacental response to acute maternal hyperoxygenation in suspected coarctation of aorta using
M P M van Poppel1, J K Steinweg1, T Woodgate1
1Research Department of Early Life Imaging, School of Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Sciences, King's College London, London, UK.
Objective:
To characterize the fetoplacental response to acute maternal hyperoxygenation (AMH) in fetuses with suspected coarctation of the aorta (CoA) using fetal cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
Methods:
Pregnant women carrying a fetus with suspected CoA were recruited prospectively from a tertiary fetal cardiology center as part of the Fetal Imaging with Maternal Oxygen (FIMOx) study between February 2019 and April 2022. MRI included phase-contrast flow measurements and oxygen-sensitive T2* sequences to assess placental and fetal brain oxygenation. Results were analyzed on a groupwise basis, comparing true-positive CoA cases (requiring surgical CoA repair ≤ 28 days after birth) to false positives.
Results:
Fetal MRI with AMH was performed in 20 pregnancies (mean ± SD gestational age, 33.0 ± 1.3 weeks), of which five had CoA and 15 were false positives. In both groups, AMH significantly increased the placental T2* signal but had no effect on cerebral T2*. Increased pulmonary blood flow with AMH was associated with reduced right-left shunting at the foramen ovale (r = -0.74, P < 0.001), but not with increased ascending aortic flow (r = 0.36, P = 0.177). Compared with baseline, AMH increased anterograde flow at the aortic isthmus from -2 (interquartile range (IQR), -57 to 10) mL/kg/min to 32 (IQR, -14 to 48) mL/kg/min (P < 0.001); however, this was associated with a reduction in superior vena cava flow (median, -29% (IQR, -41% to 0%); P < 0.001) and not with changes in ascending aortic flow. No differences in baseline or AMH phase-contrast or T2* values usefully distinguished true- and false-positive cases in this pilot study.
Conclusions:
AMH leads to a significant reduction in cerebral blood flow in fetuses with suspected CoA, which is the primary driver of changes in flow at the aortic isthmus. Future studies should consider the effects of maternal oxygen on the entirety of fetoplacental circulation, particularly for cases in which chronic maternal hyperoxygenation administration is being considered. © 2025 The Author(s). Ultrasound in Obstetrics & Gynecology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology.
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