Antenatal thymus volumes in fetuses that deliver < 32 weeks gestation: an MRI pilot study

ConclusionsWe have produced MR derived normal ranges for fetal thymus and thymus:body volume ratios between 20 and 32 weeks of gestation. Fetuses that deliver very preterm had reduced thymus volumes when standardized for fetal size. A reduced thymus volume was also a predictor of spontaneous preterm delivery. Thymus volume may be a suitable marker of the fetal inflammatory response although further work is needed to assess this, increasing the sample size to correlate the extent of chorioamnionitis with thymus size.

Source: Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica - August 30, 2020 Category: OBGYN Authors: Lisa Story, Tong Zhang, Alena Uus, Jana Hutter, Alexia Egloff, Deena Gibbons, Ho Alison, Mudher Al ‐Adnani, Caroline L Knight, Iakovos Theodoulou, Maria Deprez, Paul T Seed, Rachel M Tribe, Andrew H Shennan, Mary Rutherford Tags: ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE Source Type: research