Understanding placental, heart and brain development using advanced MRI and ultrasound scans before birth

The placenta-cardiac imaging study

Status

Recruiting

Phases

Unknown

Study type

Observational

Source

ISRCTN

Registry ID

ISRCTN13377831

Enrollment

300

Registered

2024-09-05

Start date

2023-10-01

Completion date

Unknown

Last updated

2024-10-21

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Mothers carrying a fetus with diagnosed with congenital heart disease and/or other congenital abnormalities Mothers carrying a fetus with intrauterine growth restriction Mothers with suspected placental pathology or insufficiency Healthy pregnant women Pregnancy and Childbirth

Interventions

During pregnancy Each participant will be invited to attend for between one and two out-patient antenatal ultrasound scans(s) and/or one to two outpatient MRI scan(s) (not under general anaesthetic).

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

Female

Inclusion criteria

Inclusion criteria: 1. Women with a pregnancy at 18 weeks or later at the time of scan 2. Women that are 18 years of age and over 3. Women who can read the information sheet and understand the purpose of the study and what it would entail

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion criteria: All groups: 1. Maternal weight > 125kg 2. Maternal claustrophobia 3. Patients in the first trimester of pregnancy 4. Unable to give informed consent 5. Contra-indication to MRI Healthy controls: 1. Fetal growth restriction 2. Fetal congenital anomaly 3. Maternal placental insufficiency

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame
Characterise the baseline fetoplacental conditions associated with fetal cardiac development using novel fetal MRI/US methods, including response to maternal oxygenation, and their relationship to early cardiovascular health: 1.Placenta 1.1.Total placental volume (MRI): Deformable motion-correction software applied to standard T2-weighted images via a fully automated pipeline at 20-26 weeks and 30-36 weeks gestation 1.2.Functional placental volume: Partially localised quantitative T2* maps at 20-26 weeks and 30-36 weeks gestation 1.3.Uteroplacental flow: Uterine artery flow (QUTA) measured with PC-MRI at 20-26 weeks and 30-36 weeks gestation 1.4.Fetoplacental flow: Umbilical vein flow (QUV) measured with PC-MOG at 30-36 weeks gestation 1.5.Umbilical vein SaO2: T1/T2 mapping (see SickKids Toronto collaboration) at 30-36 weeks gestation 1.6.Fetal O2 delivery (DO2): Calculated as [QUV * UVO2] at 30-36 weeks gestation 1.7.Total placental volume (US): Automatic identification and segmentation from US data using a bespoke U-Net architecture at 20-26 weeks and 30-36 weeks gestation 1.8.Uteroplacental resistance: 2D pulsed-wave Doppler of the uterine artery at 20-26 weeks and 30-36 weeks gestation 1.9.Fetoplacental resistance: 2D pulsed-wave Doppler of the umbilical artery at 20-26 weeks and 30-36 weeks gestation 2.Heart 2.1.3D whole-heart volumetry: Novel 3D + time volumes to allow for measurement of static ventricular volumes, stroke volumes and ejection fraction at 30-36 weeks gestation 2.2.Vascular flow measurements: PC-MOG with a recently developed a priori scoring system to improve reliability at 30-36 weeks gestation 2.3.3D vascular reconstruction: Automated reconstruction via a 3D-UNet approach for robust localisation of the fetal thorax even in early gestation; processed via a non-rigid extension of previous methods for accurate visualisation of smaller vessels at 20-26 weeks and 30-36 weeks gestation 2.4.3D vascular shape analysis: 3D computational modelling to al	—

Measure

Time frame

Characterise the baseline fetoplacental conditions associated with fetal cardiac development using novel fetal MRI/US methods, including response to maternal oxygenation, and their relationship to early cardiovascular health: 1.Placenta 1.1.Total placental volume (MRI): Deformable motion-correction software applied to standard T2-weighted images via a fully automated pipeline at 20-26 weeks and 30-36 weeks gestation 1.2.Functional placental volume: Partially localised quantitative T2* maps at 20-26 weeks and 30-36 weeks gestation 1.3.Uteroplacental flow: Uterine artery flow (QUTA) measured with PC-MRI at 20-26 weeks and 30-36 weeks gestation 1.4.Fetoplacental flow: Umbilical vein flow (QUV) measured with PC-MOG at 30-36 weeks gestation 1.5.Umbilical vein SaO2: T1/T2 mapping (see SickKids Toronto collaboration) at 30-36 weeks gestation 1.6.Fetal O2 delivery (DO2): Calculated as [QUV * UVO2] at 30-36 weeks gestation 1.7.Total placental volume (US): Automatic identification and segmentation from US data using a bespoke U-Net architecture at 20-26 weeks and 30-36 weeks gestation 1.8.Uteroplacental resistance: 2D pulsed-wave Doppler of the uterine artery at 20-26 weeks and 30-36 weeks gestation 1.9.Fetoplacental resistance: 2D pulsed-wave Doppler of the umbilical artery at 20-26 weeks and 30-36 weeks gestation 2.Heart 2.1.3D whole-heart volumetry: Novel 3D + time volumes to allow for measurement of static ventricular volumes, stroke volumes and ejection fraction at 30-36 weeks gestation 2.2.Vascular flow measurements: PC-MOG with a recently developed a priori scoring system to improve reliability at 30-36 weeks gestation 2.3.3D vascular reconstruction: Automated reconstruction via a 3D-UNet approach for robust localisation of the fetal thorax even in early gestation; processed via a non-rigid extension of previous methods for accurate visualisation of smaller vessels at 20-26 weeks and 30-36 weeks gestation 2.4.3D vascular shape analysis: 3D computational modelling to al

—

Secondary

Measure	Time frame
There are no secondary outcome measures	—

Countries

England, United Kingdom

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ISRCTN (via WHO ICTRP) · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026