title: Impaired fetal myocardial deformation in intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate changes in fetal myocardial deformation in intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy.
  
  
  METHODS
  Patients with intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy were divided into 2 groups according to the total maternal serum bile acid concentration: mild cholestasis (10-40 μmol/L) and severe cholestasis (>40 μmol/L). Fetal echocardiography and velocity vector imaging were performed on women with cholestasis and control patients. The left ventricular global longitudinal strain and strain rate were measured. Clinical characteristics, maternal serum bile acid levels, and N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) levels in umbilical vein blood were compared between groups. The relationships among fetal myocardial deformation, maternal total bile acids, and cord NT-proBNP were analyzed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Twenty women with mild cholestasis, 20 with severe cholestasis, and 40 control patients were enrolled. There were no significant differences in maternal and gestational ages between the case and control groups. Maternal bile acids and NT-proBNP were significantly higher in fetuses of mothers with cholestasis than control fetuses. The left ventricular longitudinal strain (-10.56% ± 1.83% versus -18.36% ± 1.11%; P < .01), systolic strain rate (-1.63 ± 0.18 versus -2.04 ± 0.18 secondsz(-1); P < .01), and diastolic strain rate (1.37 ± 0.18 versus 1.83 ± 0.14 seconds(-1); P < .01) were significantly decreased in fetuses with severe cholestasis compared with control fetuses. There were positive correlations between fetal myocardial deformation and maternal total bile acids (r = 0.705, 0.643, and 0.690, respectively; P < .01) and between myocardial deformation and NT-proBNP (r = 0.672, 0.643, and 0.647; P < .01).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Fetal myocardial deformation is impaired in severe intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy. Further investigation is needed to determine whether fetal echocardiography and velocity vector imaging can help predict which fetuses of mothers with cholestasis are likely to have poor outcomes.
authors: Departments of Ultrasonography (X.F., Q.Z., S.Z., J.Z., Q.P., M.Z.) and Obstetrics and Gynecology (Y.D.), Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China.
authors: Xuemei
authors: X
authors: Fan
authors: Departments of Ultrasonography (X.F., Q.Z., S.Z., J.Z., Q.P., M.Z.) and Obstetrics and Gynecology (Y.D.), Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China. hnzqc2013@163.com.
authors: Qichang
authors: Q
authors: Zhou
authors: Departments of Ultrasonography (X.F., Q.Z., S.Z., J.Z., Q.P., M.Z.) and Obstetrics and Gynecology (Y.D.), Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China.
authors: Shi
authors: S
authors: Zeng
authors: Departments of Ultrasonography (X.F., Q.Z., S.Z., J.Z., Q.P., M.Z.) and Obstetrics and Gynecology (Y.D.), Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China.
authors: Jiawei
authors: J
authors: Zhou
authors: Departments of Ultrasonography (X.F., Q.Z., S.Z., J.Z., Q.P., M.Z.) and Obstetrics and Gynecology (Y.D.), Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China.
authors: Qinghai
authors: Q
authors: Peng
authors: Departments of Ultrasonography (X.F., Q.Z., S.Z., J.Z., Q.P., M.Z.) and Obstetrics and Gynecology (Y.D.), Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China.
authors: Ming
authors: M
authors: Zhang
authors: Departments of Ultrasonography (X.F., Q.Z., S.Z., J.Z., Q.P., M.Z.) and Obstetrics and Gynecology (Y.D.), Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China.
authors: Yiling
authors: Y
authors: Ding
mesh_terms: D001034:Apgar Score; D001647:Bile Acids and Salts / Q000097:blood; D002780:Cholestasis, Intrahepatic / Q000097:blood / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D003971:Diastole / Q000502:physiology; D004452:Echocardiography; D005260:Female; D005312:Fetal Blood / Q000737:chemistry; D005315:Fetal Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D005318:Fetal Heart / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006352:Heart Ventricles / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006801:Humans; D020097:Natriuretic Peptide, Brain / Q000097:blood; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000097:blood; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000097:blood / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D013599:Systole / Q000502:physiology; D016216:Ultrasonography, Prenatal / Q000379:methods*; D018487:Ventricular Dysfunction, Left / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*
chemical_list: D001647:Bile Acids and Salts; D010446:Peptide Fragments; C109794:pro-brain natriuretic peptide (1-76); D020097:Natriuretic Peptide, Brain
keywords: fetal cardiac function; intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy; myocardial deformation; obstetric ultrasound; strain; strain rate