Journal article

The fetal brainstem is relatively spared from injury following intrauterine hypoxemia

M Tolcos, R Harding, M Loeliger, S Breen, M Cock, J Duncan, S Rees

DEVELOPMENTAL BRAIN RESEARCH | ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV | Published : 2003

Abstract

Our aim was to test the hypothesis that the fetal brainstem is relatively spared, compared to other brain regions, from hypoxia-induced damage. We have used established experimental models of acute and chronic intrauterine compromise in sheep to mimic conditions that can arise in human pregnancy. The acute insult was 12 h of placental insufficiency induced by restricted utero-placental blood flow at 90 days of gestation (term approximately 147 days). Five weeks after this insult (n=7 fetuses) there was no overt damage to the brainstem nor were there alterations to the blood vessel morphology, volume of the medulla or of medullary nuclei compared to controls (n=8). This regimen is known to ha..

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University of Melbourne Researchers