Effects of nifedipine on fetal cardiac function in preterm labor
-
Osman Yilmaz
and
Ayhan Şule Göncü
Abstract
Objectives
To evaluate the effects of nifedipine treatment on fetal hemodynamics and cardiac function during preterm labor. This prospective study assessed several quantitative parameters of fetal cardiac circulation and function, and found no significant changes at 48 h after nifedipine treatment. These findings suggest that tocolytic nifedipine may be safe for fetuses. It supports clinicians to use nifedipine treatment for tocolysis without any cardiac effect on the fetus.
Methods
A prospective cohort study was conducted at a tertiary hospital between January 2016 and October 2017. A total of 45 pregnant women who required nifedipine for preterm labor were included in this study. Fetal Doppler ultrasound was performed and fetal systolic and diastolic function was measured prior to, and 48 h after, the first nifedipine treatment. Conventional Doppler parameters were used to evaluate fetal heart function and hemodynamic changes. Tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion, mitral annular plane systolic excursion and the sphericity index were also evaluated to assess changes in fetal cardiac morphology.
Results
No significant changes in fetal Doppler parameters were observed following nifedipine tocolysis. There was no significant difference in the fetal cardiac function parameters of both ventricles before vs. after nifedipine treatment. Tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion, mitral annular plane systolic excursion, and sphericity index values were unchanged following nifedipine treatment.
Conclusions
Oral administration of nifedipine did not to alter fetal cardiac function or morphology. Fetal cardiac parameters and various Doppler indices were unchanged following nifedipine treatment. Maternal nifedipine treatment does not appear to have any significant effect on fetal cardiac function.
Research funding: None declared.
Author contributions: All authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this manuscript and approved its submission.
Competing interests: Authors state no conflict of interest.
Informed consent: Informed consent was obtained from all individuals included in this study.
Ethical approval: The study protocol was approved by the hospital’s Medical Research Ethics Department.
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© 2020 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Review
- Perinatal outcomes in vanishing twin pregnancies following assisted reproductive technology (ART) – a systematic review and meta-analysis
- Mini Review
- Cervical insufficiency: a noteworthy disease with controversies
- Original Articles – Obstetrics
- Individualized birth length and head circumference percentile charts based on maternal body weight and height
- Cellular immune responses in amniotic fluid of women with a sonographic short cervix
- Comparison of buprenorphine and methadone in the management of maternal opioid use disorder in full term pregnancies
- Influence of newborn head circumference and birth weight on the delivery mode of primipara: what is more important?
- Estimated fetal weight and severe neonatal outcomes in preterm prelabor rupture of membranes
- Which technique is better to place a manoeuvrable vacuum extractor cup on the flexion point? Vacca vs. Bird technique
- Pregnancy-specific transcriptional changes upon endotoxin exposure in mice
- Effects of nifedipine on fetal cardiac function in preterm labor
- Violence against trainees: urgent ethical challenges for medical educators and academic leaders in perinatal medicine
- Original Articles – Newborns
- Comparison of image quality in brain MRI with and without MR compatible incubator and predictive value of brain MRI at expected delivery date in preterm babies
- Survey on clinical use and non-use of recombinant human erythropoietin in European neonatal units
- An alternative approach to developing guidelines for the management of an anticipated extremely preterm infant
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Review
- Perinatal outcomes in vanishing twin pregnancies following assisted reproductive technology (ART) – a systematic review and meta-analysis
- Mini Review
- Cervical insufficiency: a noteworthy disease with controversies
- Original Articles – Obstetrics
- Individualized birth length and head circumference percentile charts based on maternal body weight and height
- Cellular immune responses in amniotic fluid of women with a sonographic short cervix
- Comparison of buprenorphine and methadone in the management of maternal opioid use disorder in full term pregnancies
- Influence of newborn head circumference and birth weight on the delivery mode of primipara: what is more important?
- Estimated fetal weight and severe neonatal outcomes in preterm prelabor rupture of membranes
- Which technique is better to place a manoeuvrable vacuum extractor cup on the flexion point? Vacca vs. Bird technique
- Pregnancy-specific transcriptional changes upon endotoxin exposure in mice
- Effects of nifedipine on fetal cardiac function in preterm labor
- Violence against trainees: urgent ethical challenges for medical educators and academic leaders in perinatal medicine
- Original Articles – Newborns
- Comparison of image quality in brain MRI with and without MR compatible incubator and predictive value of brain MRI at expected delivery date in preterm babies
- Survey on clinical use and non-use of recombinant human erythropoietin in European neonatal units
- An alternative approach to developing guidelines for the management of an anticipated extremely preterm infant
