Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Aug 9;12(16):5186.
doi: 10.3390/jcm12165186.

Fetal Cardiac Hemodynamic and Sonographic Anomalies in Maternal COVID-19 Infection Depending on Vaccination Status-Polish Multicenter Cohort Study

Iwona Strzelecka  1 , Oskar Sylwestrzak  2 , Julia Murlewska  2   3 , Jerzy Węgrzynowski  4 , Katarzyna Leszczyńska  5 , Krzysztof Preis  6 , Maria Respondek-Liberska  1   2
Affiliations

Fetal Cardiac Hemodynamic and Sonographic Anomalies in Maternal COVID-19 Infection Depending on Vaccination Status-Polish Multicenter Cohort Study

Iwona Strzelecka et al. J Clin Med. .

Abstract

Most obstetrical studies have focused on maternal response to the SARS-CoV-2 virus but much less is known about the effect of COVID-19 on fetal physiology. We aimed to evaluate the effect of the maternal SARS-CoV-2 infection on the fetal homeostasis with the use of detailed ultrasonography and echocardiography and consideration of the effect of vaccination. This was a multi-center study of fetuses who had prenatal detailed ultrasound and echocardiographic examinations performed by fetal cardiology specialists. The subjects were divided based on the COVID vaccination status (vaccinated women who did not have COVID-group V, unvaccinated women who had COVID-group UV, and unvaccinated women who did not have COVID-control group). We evaluated the ultrasound and echocardiography results obtained. The study group included 237 gravidas from four prenatal cardiology centers. In the group of fetuses with normal heart anatomy, normal cardiovascular function had 147 (81%) fetuses and functional cardiovascular anomalies were present in 35 (19%) cases. Functional cardiovascular anomalies were present in 11 (16%) fetuses in the V group, 19 (47%) fetuses in the UV group and 5 (8%) fetuses in the control group (p < 0.01). There were 56 (24%) fetuses with extracardiac anomalies. Extracardiac anomalies were present in 20 (22%) fetuses in the V group, 22 (45%) fetuses of the UV group and in 14 (14%) fetuses in the control group (p < 0.01). Our study has proved that maternal COVID-19 infection can affect the fetal physiology and mild cardiac and extracardiac markers detected by fetal ultrasonography and echocardiography. Moreover, maternal vaccination results in lower occurrence of these findings in fetuses.

Keywords: COVID; SARS-CoV-2; fetal echocardiography; fetal ultrasonography; prenatal cardiology.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Study group presentation—fetal cardiovascular anomalies.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Study group presentation—fetal extracardiac anomalies (ECA—defined as anomalies that do not require surgical intervention after birth).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Fetal pericardial effusion during maternal COVID-19 virus infection.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Higgins V., Sohaei D., Diamandis E.P., Prassas I. COVID-19: From an acute to chronic disease? Potential long-term health consequences. Crit. Rev. Clin. Lab. Sci. 2021;58:297–310. doi: 10.1080/10408363.2020.1860895. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Jimeno-Almazán A., Pallarés J.G., Buendía-Romero Á., Martínez-Cava A., Franco-López F., Martínez B.J.S.-A., Bernal-Morel E., Courel-Ibáñez J. Post-COVID-19 Syndrome and the Potential Benefits of Exercise. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health. 2021;18:5329. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18105329. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Wang F., Kream R.M., Stefano G.B. Long-Term Respiratory and Neurological Sequelae of COVID-19. Med. Sci. Monit. 2020;26:e928996. doi: 10.12659/MSM.928996. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Meo S.A., Bukhari I.A., Akram J., Meo A.S., Klonoff D.C. COVID-19 vaccines: Comparison of biological, pharmacological characteristics and adverse effects of Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna Vaccines. Eur. Rev. Med. Pharmacol. Sci. 2021;25:1663–1669. doi: 10.26355/eurrev_202102_24877. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Fiolet T., Kherabi Y., MacDonald C.J., Ghosn J., Peiffer-Smadja N. Comparing COVID-19 vaccines for their characteristics, efficacy and effectiveness against SARS-CoV-2 and variants of concern: A narrative review. Clin. Microbiol. Infect. 2022;28:202–221. doi: 10.1016/j.cmi.2021.10.005. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources