Acute fetal cardiovascular adaptation to artificial placenta in sheep model.

Objective: To describe the acute cardiovascular adaptation of the fetus after connection to an artificial placenta (AP) in a sheep model, using ultrasound and invasive and non-invasive hemodynamic assessment.

Methods: This was an experimental study of 12 fetal sheep that were transferred to an AP system, consisting of a pumpless circuit with umbilical cord connection, at 109-117 days' gestation. The study was designed to collect in-utero and postcannulation measurements in all the animals.

An Artificial Placenta Experimental System in Sheep: Critical Issues for Successful Transition and Survival up to One Week.

Objective: To describe the development of an artificial placenta (AP) system in sheep with learning curve and main bottlenecks to allow survival up to one week.

Methods: A total of 28 fetal sheep were transferred to an AP system at 110-115 days of gestation. The survival goal in the AP system was increased progressively in three consecutive study groups: 1-3 h (n = 8), 4-24 h (n = 10) and 48-168 h (n = 10).

Halo sign in fetal cytomegalovirus infection: cerebral imaging abnormalities and postmortem histopathology in 35 infected fetuses.

Objective: To evaluate the correlation of periventricular echogenic halo (halo sign) with histopathological findings and its association with other brain imaging abnormalities in fetuses with cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection.

Methods: This was a retrospective study of fetuses diagnosed with severe CMV infection based on central nervous system (CNS) abnormalities seen on ultrasound, which had termination of pregnancy (TOP) or fetal demise at a single center from 2006 to 2021. All included cases had been evaluated by conventional complete fetal autopsy.

Brain cortical maturation assessed by magnetic resonance imaging in unaffected or mildly affected fetuses with cytomegalovirus infection.

Objectives: To assess by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) the cortical maturation pattern in fetuses with cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection with mild or no abnormalities on ultrasound (US) and MRI, and to establish possible differences compared with healthy controls.

Methods: This was a retrospective case-control study of consecutive pregnancies with a CMV-infected fetus undergoing prenatal MRI as a complementary diagnostic tool in two centers, and a control group of singleton low-risk pregnancies without fetal structural abnormalities, with normal fetal growth and with healthy newborns. CMV infection was confirmed by extraction of CMV-DNA from fetal and neonatal samples.