Understanding changes in echocardiographic parameters at different ages following fetal growth restriction: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol. 2024 Apr 26. doi: 10.1152/ajpheart.00052.2024. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTFetal growth restriction (FGR) increases cardiovascular risk by cardiac remodeling and programming. This systematic review and meta-analysis across species examines the use of echocardiography in FGR offspring at different ages. PubMed and Embase.com were searched for animal and human studies reporting on echocardiographic parameters in placental insufficiency-induced FGR offspring. We included 6 animal and 49 human studies. While unable to perform a meta-analysis of animal studies due to insufficient number of studies per individual outcome, all studies showed left ventricular dysfunction. Our meta-analyses of human studies revealed a reduced left ventricular mass, interventricular septum thickness, mitral annular peak velocity, and mitral lateral early diastolic velocity at neonatal age. No echocardiographic differences during childhood were observed, although the small age range and number of studies limited these analyses. Only two studies at adult age were performed. Meta-regression on other influential factors was not possible due to underreporting. The few studies on myocardial strain analysis showed small changes in global longitudinal strain in FGR offspring. The quality of the human studies was considered low and the risk of bias in animal studies mostly unclear. Echocardiographymay offer a non-invasive tool to detect early signs of cardiovascular predisposi...
Source: American Journal of Physiology. Heart and Circulatory Physiology - Category: Physiology Authors: Source Type: research