as soon as is submitted to ZB.
Exploring the influence of fetal sex on heart rate dynamics using fetal magnetocardiographic recordings.
Reprod. Sci., DOI: 10.1007/s43032-023-01384-9 (2023)
Fetal sex has been associated with different development trajectories that cause structural and functional differences between the sexes throughout gestation. Fetal magnetocardiography (fMCG) recordings from 123 participants (64 females and 59 males; one recording/participant) from a database consisting of low-risk pregnant women were analyzed to explore and compare fetal development trajectories of both sexes. The gestational age of the recordings ranged from 28 to 38 weeks. Linear metrics in both the time and frequency domains were applied to study fetal heart rate variability (fHRV) measures that reveal the dynamics of short- and long-term variability. Rates of linear change with GA in these metrics were analyzed using general linear model regressions with assessments for significantly different variances and GA regression slopes between the sexes. The fetal sexes were well balanced for GA and sleep state. None of the fHRV measures analyzed exhibited significant variance heterogeneity between the sexes, and none of them exhibited a significant sex-by-GA interaction. The absence of a statistically significant sex-by-GA interaction on all parameters resulted in none of the regression slope estimates being significantly different between the sexes. With high-precision fMCG recordings, we were able to explore the variation in fHRV parameters as it relates to fetal sex. The fMCG-based fHRV parameters did not show any significant difference in rates of change with gestational age between sexes. This study provides a framework for understanding normal development of the fetal autonomic nervous system, especially in the context of fetal sex.
Altmetric
Additional Metrics?
Edit extra informations
Login
Publication type
Article: Journal article
Document type
Scientific Article
Keywords
Fetal Development ; Fetal Heart Rate Variability ; Fetal Sex ; Fetus; Gender-related Differences; Body-mass Index; Rate-variability; Neurobehavioral Development; Behavioral States; Gestational-age; Electrocardiogram; Maturation; Movements; Metrics
ISSN (print) / ISBN
1933-7191
e-ISSN
1933-7205
Journal
Reproductive Sciences
Publisher
Sage
Publishing Place
Thousand Oaks
Non-patent literature
Publications
Reviewing status
Peer reviewed
Grants
We want to acknowledge Ms. Heather Moody's contribution to recruitment, consenting and data collection.