Maternal smoking during pregnancy and fetal organ growth: a magnetic resonance imaging study

Anblagan, Devasuda, Jones, Nia W., Costigan, Carolyn, Parker, Alexander J.J., Allcock, Kirsty, Aleong, Rosanne, Coyne, Lucy H., Deshpande, Ruta, Raine-Fenning, Nick, Bugg, George, Roberts, Neil, Pausova, Zdenka, Paus, Tomáš and Gowland, Penny A. (2013) Maternal smoking during pregnancy and fetal organ growth: a magnetic resonance imaging study. PLoS ONE, 8 (6). e67223/1-e67223/7. ISSN 1932-6203

Full text not available from this repository.

Abstract

Objective: To study whether maternal cigarette smoking during pregnancy is associated with alterations in the growth of

fetal lungs, kidneys, liver, brain, and placenta.

Design: A case-control study, with operators performing the image analysis blinded.

Setting: Study performed on a research-dedicated magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner (1.5 T) with participants

recruited from a large teaching hospital in the United Kingdom.

Participants: A total of 26 pregnant women (13 current smokers, 13 non smokers) were recruited; 18 women (10 current

smokers, 8 nonsmokers) returned for the second scan later in their pregnancy.

Methods: Each fetus was scanned with MRI at 22–27 weeks and 33–38 weeks gestational age (GA).

Main outcome measures: Images obtained with MRI were used to measure volumes of the fetal brain, kidneys, lungs, liver

and overall fetal size, as well as placental volumes.

Results: Exposed fetuses showed lower brain volumes, kidney volumes, and total fetal volumes, with this effect being

greater at visit 2 than at visit 1 for brain and kidney volumes, and greater at visit 1 than at visit 2 for total fetal volume.

Exposed fetuses also demonstrated lower lung volume and placental volume, and this effect was similar at both visits. No

difference was found between the exposed and nonexposed fetuses with regards to liver volume.

Conclusion: Magnetic resonance imaging has been used to show that maternal smoking is associated with reduced growth

of fetal brain, lung and kidney; this effect persists even when the volumes are corrected for maternal education, gestational

age, and fetal sex. As expected, the fetuses exposed to maternal smoking are smaller in size. Similarly, placental volumes are

smaller in smoking versus nonsmoking pregnant women.

Item Type: Article
RIS ID: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1001897
Schools/Departments: University of Nottingham, UK > Faculty of Science > School of Physics and Astronomy
Identification Number: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0067223
Depositing User: Davies, Mrs Sarah
Date Deposited: 22 Apr 2014 13:35
Last Modified: 04 May 2020 20:19
URI: https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/id/eprint/2424

Actions (Archive Staff Only)

Edit View Edit View