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Functional imaging of the placenta in an inrauterine growth restriction rat model by uterine ligation

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Thèse de doctorat : Sciences de la Vie et de la Santé : Tours : 2016

To identify fetuses small for their gestational-age who have reached their appropriate growth potential from growth-restricted fetuses due to placental insufficiency is uneasy. Intra Uterine Growth Restriction (IUGR) increases the risk for indicated preterm delivery, neonatal mortality and morbidity. Therefore, improving the knowledge of the placental perfusion is essential to better identify and manage fetal chronic oxygen deprivation associated with placental insufficiency.Contrast Enhanced Ultrasound (CEUS) and MRI are two imaging modalities available to quantify placental perfusion. However, few studies focus on the quantification of placental perfusion with CEUS. First, the advantages and limitations of CEUS were presented in an IUGR rat model by uterine ligation. The placental perfusion observed by CEUS was significantly decreased in the ligated horn. No contrast enhancement was observed in the umbilical vein or the fetus. Then, we compared the CEUS parameters to results obtained by MRI perfusion. Perfusion parameters were obtained from the signal intensity decay curve for the two imaging modalities. Results of such perfusion parameters were comparable in the same IUGR rat model. Finally, we evaluated the response of the placenta to oxygenation by photoacoustic imaging. PA imaging is a real-time, non-invasive method to evaluate placental oxygenation without contrast agents. Our results suggesting that placenta is less affected than maternal tissue by the decline in maternal oxygenation. The placenta may play an important role in protecting the feus against hypoxia.

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    Created on December 5, 2016