11 Clinical Trials for Various Conditions
Objectives / Specific Aims * The purpose of this study is to investigate the acute effects of a single bout of moderate intensity maternal exercise on fetal well-being in a pregnancy affected by fetal growth restriction. Fetal well-being will be measured by biophysical profile (BPP), non-stress test (NST) and umbilical artery dopplers. * The hypothesis is that a single bout of maternal exercise will not significantly alter fetal well-being or fetal status.
The purpose of this study is to compare the composite neonatal adverse outcomes (CNAO) among pregnancies complicated by fetal growth restriction (FGR) managed using the Society of Maternal-Fetal Medicine (SMFM) versus International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology (ISUOG) antepartum ultrasound guidelines, to measure the rate of the individual components of CNAO, to record the rate of cesarean delivery during labor, to tabulate the rate of deviation from the management protocol assigned at the time of evaluation, to record neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) admission rates and to measure the rate of the composite maternal adverse outcome (CMAO).
The purpose of this research study is to develop imaging methods to diagnose placental injury in pregnancies diagnosed with fetal growth restriction (FGR). Investigators are doing this research because the use of IV iron, followed by a Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), may help detect injury in the placenta. The IV iron, ferumoxytol, is an iron preparation used for treatment of iron deficiency anemia. It is given in hospital setting under close medical attention. Ferumoxytol(FE) is FDA approved for some uses, but in pregnant women, its use as a MRI contrast is investigational.
The objective of this study is to utilize trophoblast cells accumulating in the endocervical canal at the beginning of pregnancy for non-invasive prenatal testing. If we are able to validate that trophoblast cells obtained at an early gestational age can be reliably used for prenatal testing, there is great potential to improve early pregnancy management and counseling options for potential parents. The target population will be all women between the age of 18-45 undergoing care at the Center for Reproductive Medicine (CRM) in order to achieve a pregnancy.
Insulin resistance is common among children with low birthweight. Moreover, growth hormone treatment for ensuing short stature also causes insulin resistance. Our objective is to examine these processes. Insulin resistance has recently been linked to the accumulation of stores of fat in muscle cells which can be measured by MRI. We hypothesize that children who are short due to low birthweight have increased muscle fat stores, but that growth hormone treatment will paradoxically reverse this association. To test this hypothesis, muscle fat stores will be measured in children who are short due to low birthweight before and after receiving growth hormone therapy. Other parameters linked to insulin resistance (glucose tolerance, blood markers, and body composition) will also be assessed. This study may lead to ways to increase growth hormone safety and dose limitations.
Optimal diagnostic management and underlying pathophysiological mechanisms of selective fetal growth restriction (sFGR) in monochorionic diamniotic (MCDA) twin pregnancies have not been fully clarified. The current diagnostic classification system based on three different umbilical artery flow patterns has no increasing scale of severity and the predictive value is limited. Since there is no treatment available for sFGR, predicting fetal deterioration is key in preventing single or double fetal demise. Outcome prediction is furthermore important in the selection of cases that will be offered selective reduction (to provide the larger twin with better prospects), as well as determining monitor frequency and possible hospital admission. As outcome prediction is clinically challenging, patient counselling is too, and parents often encounter a great deal of uncertainty during the pregnancy. Furthermore, little is known about the brain development of sFGR children (both during pregnancy and after birth). Moreover, the psychological impact of an sFGR pregnancy of the future parent)s) has not been studied before. The impact of these factors should be taken into account during patient counseling, which is currently not the case. By our knowledge, this is the first international, multicenter, prospective cohort study on that will address the abovementioned questions and knowledge gaps in MCDA pregnancies complicated by selective fetal growth restriction.
Objective of this registry is to collect a representative set of real world data on the use of Dilapan-S® for pre-induction cervical ripening in daily clinical practice. Upon completion of the registry, relevant collected data will be analyzed and published.
Contraceptive failure is the primary cause of unintended pregnancy in the United States. With obesity rates at epidemic proportions, any association between obesity and strategies that prevent undesired pregnancies constitutes a significant public health and economic concern. Evidence from recent epidemiological studies and our preliminary data (sub-therapeutic levels of steroid hormones due to drug clearance and half-life) suggest that obesity reduces oral contraceptive efficacy. Furthermore, preliminary analysis suggested that a sub-group of obese women, defined by their own birth weight, are at higher risk of contraceptive failure. Further studies are necessary to investigate whether birth weight, a surrogate marker of in utero growth restriction, is a useful diagnostic marker for the identification of women prone to contraceptive failure. Such an understanding is critical to finding a contraceptive strategy with better efficacy for these women. The overall goal of this project is to test pharmacokinetics of oral contraceptive agents in obese women with low birth weight and compare to obese women with normal birth weight. The main hypothesis for this proposal is that an adverse in utero environment programs the expression and function of enzymes and transporters that underlie pharmacokinetics of oral contraceptives, and leads to contraceptive failure. Reproductive-aged, ovulatory women of obese BMI \>30 kg/m2 with normal birth weight (5.5-8 lbs; n=10) and low birth weight (\<5.5 lbs; n=10), will be placed on oral contraceptives for 1 month. At several key time points, synthetic steroid pharmacokinetics, gonadotropins (luteinizing hormone, follicle-stimulating hormone) and ovarian hormone levels (estradiol, progesterone) will be monitored.
The objective of this pilot study is to prospectively evaluate amniotic fluid of pregnancies complicated by non-immune hydrops and severe symmetrical intrauterine growth restriction by tandem mass spectrometry for inborn errors of metabolism.
The purpose of the study is to determine the prevalence of sleep-disordered breathing in pregnant women during the third trimester of pregnancy and to investigate whether this is associated with high blood pressure in the mother and/or growth retardation in the baby.
Fetal growth abnormalities, such as macrosomia and intrauterine growth retardation, are an important cause for increased perinatal mortality in the United States. Toward this end, accurate fetal weight determinations are very important for guiding prenatal care. Three-dimensional ultrasound is a recent technology that provides a new way to evaluate the fetus. This technique allows one to arbitrarily scan through a digital ultrasound volume dataset, visualize organs from different perspectives, and render anatomical features through computer processing. It also allows the retrospective measurement of distances and volumes even in the physical absence of the patient. A maximum of 400 pregnancies will be serially studied by three-dimensional ultrasound to characterize the growth of volume parameters such as the fetal thigh. This information will be applied to the Rossavik model of individualized growth assessment. The technique allows growth evaluation by comparing various ultrasound measurements or birth characteristics to the individual growth standards specified by the prediction model. Newborn infant body composition will also be studied within 48 hours of delivery. A separate cross-sectional study of up to 2,577 fetuses will allow development of birth weight prediction models based upon fetal volume measurements and further analysis of fetal growth abnormalities. Individual growth curve standards utilizing these volume parameters should allow one to evaluate deviations from expected growth or birth weight by using each fetus as its own control.