Early Supraspinal Influences on Human Embryonic Posture.

Knowledge of embryonic body posture as a reflection of neurodevelopment is limited. Here, we investigate embryonic body posture, preference, symmetry, and lateralization during periods of rest using virtual reality (VR) and four-dimensional (4D) ultrasound techniques to enhance our knowledge of neurodevelopment. It is hypothesized that lateralization and asymmetry in embryonic posture are absent.

Periconceptional maternal intake of ultra-processed foods, energy and macronutrients the impact on imaging markers of early utero-placental vascular development: The rotterdam periconception cohort.

Background & Aims: The quantity and quality of maternal nutrition in the periconception period is an important determinant for embryonic and foetal development and subsequent pregnancy course and outcome. The intake of ultra-processed foods (UPF) has increased worldwide and adverse health outcomes have been reported. However, the impact of UPF intake on the placenta, essential for prenatal nourishment, is unknown.

Maternal serum PlGF associates with 3D power doppler ultrasound markers of utero-placental vascular development in the first trimester: the rotterdam periconception cohort.

Objective (s): Circulating angiogenic factors are used for prediction of placenta-related complications, but their associations with first-trimester placental development is unknown. This study investigates associations between maternal angiogenic factors and utero-placental vascular volume (uPVV) and utero-placental vascular skeleton (uPVS) as novel imaging markers of volumetric and morphologic (branching) development of the first-trimester utero-placental vasculature.

Methods: In 185 ongoing pregnancies from the VIRTUAL Placenta study, a subcohort of the ongoing prospective Rotterdam Periconception cohort, three-dimensional power Doppler ultrasounds of the placenta were obtained at 7-9-11 weeks gestational age (GA).

First-trimester 3D power Doppler imaging markers of utero-placental vascular development are associated with placental weight and diameter at birth: The Rotterdam Periconception Cohort.

Introduction: Early utero-placental vascular development impacts placental development and function throughout pregnancy. We investigated whether impaired first-trimester utero-placental vascular development is associated with pathologic features of the postpartum placenta.

Methods: In this prospective observational study of 65 ongoing pregnancies, we obtained three-dimensional power Doppler ultrasounds of the placenta at 7, 9 and 11 weeks of gestation.

Computational methods for the analysis of early-pregnancy brain ultrasonography: a systematic review.

Background: Early screening of the brain is becoming routine clinical practice. Currently, this screening is performed by manual measurements and visual analysis, which is time-consuming and prone to errors. Computational methods may support this screening.

Assessment of first-trimester utero-placental vascular morphology by 3D power Doppler ultrasound image analysis using a skeletonization algorithm: the Rotterdam Periconception Cohort.

Study Question: Can three-dimensional (3D) Power Doppler (PD) ultrasound and a skeletonization algorithm be used to assess first-trimester development of the utero-placental vascular morphology?

Summary Answer: The application of 3D PD ultrasonography and a skeletonization algorithm facilitates morphologic assessment of utero-placental vascular development in the first trimester and reveals less advanced vascular morphologic development in pregnancies with placenta-related complications than in pregnancies without placenta-related complications.

What Is Known Already: Suboptimal development of the utero-placental vasculature is one of the main contributors to the periconceptional origin of placenta-related complications. The nature and attribution of aberrant vascular structure and branching patterns remain unclear, as validated markers monitoring first-trimester utero-placental vascular morphologic development are lacking.

Innovative approach for first-trimester fetal organ volume measurements using a Virtual Reality system: The Generation R Next Study.

Introduction: To investigate the reproducibility of first-trimester fetal organ volume measurements using three-dimensional (3D) ultrasound and a Virtual Reality system.

Methods: Within a population-based prospective cohort study, 3D ultrasound datasets of 25 first-trimester fetuses were collected by three sonographers. We used the V-scope application to perform Virtual Reality volume assessments of the fetal heart, lungs, and kidneys.

Corpus luteum number and the maternal renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system as determinants of utero-placental (vascular) development: the Rotterdam Periconceptional Cohort.

Background: Pregnancies with > 1 corpus luteum (CL) display a hyperdynamic circulation and an increased risk of small-for-gestational age deliveries. Among the factors released by the CL is prorenin, the inactive precursor of renin. Since the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) is involved in early hemodynamic pregnancy adaptation, we linked both CL number and first-trimester concentrations of prorenin (as an indicator of RAAS activity) and the aldosterone/renin ratio (as an indicator of angiotensin-independent aldosterone effectiveness) to non-invasive markers of utero-placental (vascular) development, measured longitudinally from the first trimester onwards.

First trimester fetal proportion volumetric measurements using a Virtual Reality approach.

Objective: To establish feasibility and reproducibility of fetal proportion volumetric measurements, using three-dimensional (3D) ultrasound and a Virtual Reality (VR) system.

Methods: Within a population-based prospective birth cohort, 3D ultrasound datasets of 50 fetuses in the late first trimester were collected by three ultrasonographers in a single research center. V-scope software was used for volumetric measurements of total fetus, extremities, head-trunk, head, trunk, thorax, and abdomen.

Evaluation of embryonic posture using four-dimensional ultrasound and virtual reality.

Aim: To assess the possibility of embryonic posture evaluation (=feasibility, reproducibility, variation) at rest at 9 weeks' (+0-6 days) gestational age (GA) using four-dimensional ultrasound and virtual reality (VR) techniques. Moreover, it is hypothesized that embryonic posture shows variation at the same time point in an uneventful pregnancy.

Methods: In this explorative prospective cohort study, 23 pregnant women were recruited from the Rotterdam periconceptional cohort.

Larger First-Trimester Placental Volumetric Parameters Are Associated With Lower Pressure and More Flow-Mediated Vasodilation of the Fetoplacental Vasculature After Delivery.

Objective: To explore the correlation between placental volumetric parameters in the first trimester of pregnancy and parameters of fetoplacental vascular function after delivery.

Methods: In ten singleton physiological pregnancies, placental volume (PV) and uteroplacental vascular volume (uPVV) were measured offline in three-dimensional ultrasound volumes at 7, 9, and 11 weeks gestational age (GA) using Virtual Organ Analysis and Virtual Reality. Directly postpartum, term placentas were dually perfused and pressure in the fetoplacental vasculature was measured to calculate baseline pressure (pressure after a washout period), pressure increase (pressure after a stepwise fetal flow rate increase of 1 mL/min up to 6 mL/min) and flow-mediated vasodilation (FMVD; reduction in inflow hydrostatic pressure on the fetal side at 6 mL/min flow rate).

The Impact of Neighbourhood Deprivation on Embryonic Growth Trajectories: Rotterdam Periconception Cohort.

Background: Neighbourhood deprivation is a risk factor for impaired health and adverse pregnancy outcomes. We investigated whether living in a deprived neighbourhood is associated with embryonic growth.

Methods: From the Predict cohort, we studied 566 women who underwent repeated first trimester ultrasound examinations.

Study protocol for a prospective cohort study to investigate Hemodynamic Adaptation to Pregnancy and Placenta-related Outcome: the HAPPO study.

Introduction: The importance of cardiovascular health in relation to pregnancy outcome is increasingly acknowledged. Women who develop certain pregnancy complications, in particular preeclampsia, are at higher risk for future cardiovascular disease. Independent of its outcome, pregnancy requires a substantial adaptive response of the maternal cardiovascular system.

Towards a rational design of faecal transplant analogues.

Faecal transplants (microbiota transfer) have shown to be promising therapies having a wide range of therapeutic applications. However, current safety considerations hamper further valorisation. As such, well designed faecal transplant analogues provide an interesting alternative to minimize possible safety aspects.

Effect of human embryonic morphological development on fetal growth parameters: the Rotterdam Periconceptional Cohort (Predict Study).

Research Question: Is embryonic morphological development according to the Carnegie stages associated with pregnancy outcome?

Design: In a tertiary hospital-based cohort, 182 singleton non-malformed pregnancies were selected. Serial transvaginal three-dimensional ultrasound (3D-US) scans were carried out between 6 and 10 gestational weeks. Embryonic development was annotated according to the morphological criteria of the Carnegie classification using a virtual reality system.

Does the father matter? The association between the periconceptional paternal folate status and embryonic growth.

Objective: To study the association between periconceptional paternal folate status and embryonic growth trajectories in early pregnancy.

Design: Prospective periconceptional cohort study.

Setting: Single tertiary hospital.

First trimester physiological development of the fetal foot position using three-dimensional ultrasound in virtual reality.

Aim: In anatomic studies of the embryo, it has been established that during the development of the lower limb, several changes in foot position can be observed defined as a temporary 'physiological clubfoot'. The aim of this study was to develop and test a measurement tool for objective documentation of the first trimester foot position in vivo and made an attempt to create a chart for first trimester foot position.

Methods: We developed a virtual orthopedic protractor for measuring foot positioning using three-dimensional virtual reality visualization.

Evaluation of First-Trimester Physiological Midgut Herniation Using Three-Dimensional Ultrasound.

Introduction: The aim of this study was to investigate the development of midgut herniation in vivo using three-dimensional (3D) ultrasonographic volume and distance measurements and to create reference data for physiological midgut herniation in ongoing pregnancies in a tertiary hospital population.

Materials And Methods: The transvaginal 3D ultrasound volumes of 112 women, seen weekly during the first trimester of pregnancy, were obtained and subsequently analysed in a virtual reality environment. The width of the umbilical cord insertion, the maximum diameter of the umbilical cord, and the volume of midgut herniation were measured from 6 until 13 weeks gestational age (GA).

Early first trimester maternal 'high fish and olive oil and low meat' dietary pattern is associated with accelerated human embryonic development.

Background/objectives: Maternal dietary patterns were associated with embryonic growth and congenital anomalies. We aim to evaluate associations between early first trimester maternal dietary patterns and embryonic morphological development among pregnancies with non-malformed outcome.

Subjects/methods: A total of 228 strictly dated, singleton pregnancies without congenital malformations were enrolled in a periconceptional hospital-based cohort.

Virtual reality imaging techniques in the study of embryonic and early placental health.

Embryonic and placental growth and development in the first trimester of pregnancy have impact on the health of the fetus, newborn, child and even the adult. This emphasizes the importance of this often neglected period in life. The development of three-dimensional transvaginal ultrasonography in combination with virtual reality (VR) opens the possibility of accurate and reliable visualization of embryonic and placental structures with real depth perception.

Accuracy of fetal sex determination in the first trimester of pregnancy using 3D virtual reality ultrasound.

Purpose: Early detection of fetal sex is becoming more popular. The aim of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of fetal sex determination in the first trimester, using 3D virtual reality.

Methods: Three-dimensional (3D) US volumes were obtained in 112 pregnancies between 9 and 13 weeks of gestational age.

Maternal Lifestyle Impairs Embryonic Growth: The Rotterdam Periconception Cohort.

Previously, embryonic growth has been assumed to be uniform, but in recent years, it has become more clear that genetic and environmental factors may influence the intrauterine environment and therefore embryonic growth trajectories as well as pregnancy course and outcome. The objective of this study was to investigate associations between modifiable maternal nutrition and lifestyle factors during the periconception period and embryonic growth. We established a prospective cohort including 342 women less than 13 weeks pregnant.