Abstract
Objective: This study aimed to quantitatively assess myocardial strain in preterm children aged 5 to 8 years of pregnancy complicated by severe preeclampsia (PE) by two-dimensional (2D) speckle tracking echocardiography.Method: A cohort study of 23 preterm children delivered by severe PE pregnant women from 2010 to 2012 in the First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University was carried out. 23 preterm children from uneventful pregnancies in the same period served as controls. Myocardial functions including left ventricular longitudinal strain, radial strain, circumferential strain, and right ventricular longitudinal strain were evaluated by conventional Doppler, tissue Doppler imaging, and 2D speckle-tracking echocardiography (2D STE). All examinations were performed by an experienced ultrasonographer using the VIVID E9 (GE Healthcare) machine, according to standard techniques.Results: Children aged 5–8 years delivered from severe PE presented less weight (24.41 vs. 20.89 kg, P < 0.05), shorter height (124.1 vs 115.6 cm, P < 0.05) and faster heart rates (84 vs. 93 bpm, P < 0.05) compared to offspring of normotensive women. There were no significant differences in global left ventricular longitudinal strain, radial strain, circumferential strain, and right ventricular longitudinal strain between the children in the experimental group and the control group (P > 0.05).Conclusion: Exposure to the intrauterine environment of severe PE during the fetal period did not have a significant impact on cardiac structure in premature children at 5–8 years old, but they had a higher resting heart rate which may be associated with cardiovascular disease in the long run.
Highlights
IntroductionThere is evidence that preeclampsia (PE) could cause epigenetic alterations, among which alterations in imprinted genes could affect the process of embryo formation, trophoblastic growth, embryonic and organismal development (Peixoto et al, 2018)
Preeclampsia is a common complication during pregnancy
There were no significant differences in age, gestational week of birth, or parental characteristics between the children in the severe PE group and the control group
Summary
There is evidence that preeclampsia (PE) could cause epigenetic alterations, among which alterations in imprinted genes could affect the process of embryo formation, trophoblastic growth, embryonic and organismal development (Peixoto et al, 2018). Alterations in gene expression or protein expression do not Myocardial Function in Offspring of Preeclampsia lead to changes in DNA sequence, so it could be stably inherited as cells divide and proliferate. The development of trophoblast invasion and vascular dysplasia could result in placental insufficiency, reduced oxygen and nutrient supply, and destruction of cardiomyocyte growth and myocardial fiber structure. In order to maintain cardiac output, the developing myocardial tissues would undergo macroscopic and microscopic changes in structure and function, leading to myocardial remodeling and dysfunction during the growth and development of offspring (Zhang, 2005; Jonker et al, 2010)
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