Effects of umbilical cord occlusion in late gestation on the ovine fetal brain and retina

Abstract

Previous studies on the effects of umbilical cord occlusion (UCO) on the fetal brain have focused on short-term alterations, and in most cases have used only subjective techniques to evaluate brain injury. Our aim was to assess quantitatively the persistent consequences of UCO on the developing brain; we also examined the retina. We subjected fetal sheep to a single episode of UCO at 126 days of gestation (term ∼147 days) to induce at least 10 minutes of isoelectric fetal electrocorticogram (ECoG). UCO resulted in fetal asphyxia and transient mild alterations in fetal mean arterial pressure (MAP). UCO did not result in significant injury to the developing brain or retina when assessed 15 day..