Placenta Imaging Project
Condition: High Risk Pregnancy
Study type: Observational

Summary: 
      The purpose of this study is to test the application of newly generated magnetic resonance
      imaging (MRI) protocols for the assessment of placental perfusion in human subjects. The
      primary objective is to validate and establish the utility of placental MRI in pregnant
      women. The study will be entirely MRI-technology based with collection of placental tissue at
      the time of infant delivery for later correlative studies.
    

Detailed description: 
      The placenta provides all the nutrition from a pregnant mother to a developing fetus. A
      placenta that functions normally is needed to ensure normal fetal growth and development.
      Unfortunately, the placenta is the least understood human organ even though it is involved in
      all pregnancy complications. The placenta is so poorly understood because our current methods
      to look at it during pregnancy, like ultrasound, do not provide enough information about
      placental growth and function.

      This study will help provide information about:

        -  How the placenta grows and develops during pregnancy

        -  How the placenta delivers nutrients, like oxygen to the developing fetus

        -  If placental function using new advanced imaging tools can predict pregnancy
           complications like fetal growth restriction, stillbirth, preeclampsia and preterm labor

      This study will explore how blood flow to the placenta affects placental growth, fetal
      growth, and oxygen delivery to the fetus. Blood flow to the placenta may determine how the
      placenta supports fetal growth and development. Having a way to measure placental function
      during pregnancy may provide a way to understand normal pregnancies but importantly also
      identify pregnancies at increased risk for pregnancy complications.

      Additionally we want to have an ancillary intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) arm; the
      objective of this ancillary study is to test the sensitivity of the placental MRI protocol in
      women with confirmed cases of IUGR in the third trimester.
    

Intervention name(s): MRI; MRI - IUGR
Intervention type(s): Device; Device
Intervention description(s): Recently-developed placenta-specific magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) tools will be used to quantify maternal perfusion and oxygen transfer throughout pregnancy in 3 groups of human subjects: 1) non-smokers, 2) smokers, 3) individuals at high risk for adverse outcome. The objective of this work is to develop a new non-invasive clinical tool for early identification of placental dysfunction.; Recently-developed placenta-specific magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) tools will be used to quantify maternal perfusion and oxygen transfer throughout pregnancy. The objective of this ancillary arm is to further test the sensitivity of placental magnetic resonance imaging to detect abnormal perfusion and oxygenation in confirmed cases of IUGR between gestational ages 28 to 36 weeks.
Other intervention name(s): magnetic resonance imaging; magnetic resonance imaging
Observational model: Cohort
Time perspective: Prospective
Sampling method: Non-Probability Sample
Study population: 
        Women who plan to deliver at OHSU or University of Utah hospitals and live within the areas
        served by those medical facilities.
      
Biospecimen description: 
      Specimens to be included:

      Maternal blood (10ml) taken at each MRI visit and prior to delivery Maternal urine taken at
      each MRI visit and prior to delivery Placental tissue collected at the time of delivery.
    
Keywords: pregnancy; growth restriction