Thymic volume in healthy, small for gestational age and growth restricted fetuses
ABSTRACT Objective The aim of this study was to verify the hypothesis that a difference in thymic size exists between small for gestational age (SGA) fetuses, likely constitutional, and intrauterine growth restricted (IUGR) fetuses because of placental causes. Methods We studied 27 SGA and 36 contro...
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Published in | Prenatal diagnosis Vol. 32; no. 7; pp. 662 - 667 |
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Main Authors | , , , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
Chichester, UK
John Wiley & Sons, Ltd
01.07.2012
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Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | ABSTRACT
Objective
The aim of this study was to verify the hypothesis that a difference in thymic size exists between small for gestational age (SGA) fetuses, likely constitutional, and intrauterine growth restricted (IUGR) fetuses because of placental causes.
Methods
We studied 27 SGA and 36 control fetuses. SGA was defined as fetal abdominal circumference (AC) and birthweight <10th percentile for gestational age. We defined as constitutional SGA those with normal uterine and umbilical artery Doppler flow velocity waveforms (FVW), and as IUGR those with abnormal uterine FVW. IUGR were further divided based on normal or abnormal umbilical FVW. Fetal thymic volume (TV) was acquired by three‐dimensional ultrasound and reconstructed with virtual organ computer‐aided analysis. To correct for the influence of fetal size on thymic dimension, TV/AC ratio was calculated.
Results
Controls presented a higher TV/AC compared with each group of SGA (p < 0.001). TV/AC was significantly lower in IUGR with abnormal umbilical FVW compared with both constitutional SGA (p = 0.01) and IUGR with normal umbilical FVW (p = 0.01).
Conclusions
The differences in TV/AC between constitutional SGA and IUGR with abnormal umbilical FVW suggest that, in the latter, a specific ‘trigger’ might compromise trophoblastic invasion and thymic development; however, some kind of alteration of the immune system might occur in all SGA fetuses. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. |
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Bibliography: | ark:/67375/WNG-8S6T0RQW-8 ArticleID:PD3883 istex:977A22C12ED59934992E1E316E923911A2734F17 ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 |
ISSN: | 0197-3851 1097-0223 |
DOI: | 10.1002/pd.3883 |