Ischemic preconditioning does not prevent placental dysfunction induced by fetal cardiac bypass.

Background: Remote ischemic preconditioning (rIPC) has been applied to attenuate tissue injury. We tested the hypothesis that rIPC applied to fetal lambs undergoing cardiac bypass (CB) reduces fetal systemic inflammation and placental dysfunction.

Methods: Eighteen fetal lambs were divided into three groups: sham, CB control, and CB rIPC.