Effect of smoking on the fetal coronary arteries.
The effects of maternal smoking on the fetal coronary arteries were studied in 50 babies who died during the first month of life. The intimal layers of the coronary arteries of babies whose mothers smoked during pregnancy were smaller than those of babies of non-smoking mothers. The difference was independent of sex, birthweight, heartweight and infection. Tobacco smoking seems to prevent normal development of the intimal layer of fetal coronary arteries.
D001724:Birth Weight; D003331:Coronary Vessels / Q000196:embryology / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D005318:Fetal Heart / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D009929:Organ Size; D011247:Pregnancy; D012907:Smoking