Key result
Maternal obesity was associated with a higher mean neonatal heart rate during sleep (123 vs 114 beats/min, p=0.002) and decreased left ventricular end-diastolic volume.
Why the study?
Maternal obesity may increase offspring risk of cardiovascular disease, but its impact on cardiac structure and function in newborns was unclear.
Does maternal obesity alter cardiac structure and function in newborns?
Observational (n=31)
Does maternal obesity alter cardiac structure and function in newborns?
Absolute Event Rate: 123% vs 114%
p-value: p=0.002
Maternal obesity is associated with adverse subclinical changes in neonatal cardiac structure and function, including increased heart rate and decreased left ventricular volumes.
Maternal obesity may affect neonatal cardiac parameters; leaves open long-term implications and need for prospective confirmation.
BACKGROUND: Maternal obesity may increase offspring risk of cardiovascular disease. We assessed the impact of maternal obesity on cardiac structure and function in newborns as a marker of fetal cardiac growth. METHODS: , n=31) underwent 25-minute continuous ECG recording and non-sedated, free-breathing cardiac MRI within 72 hours of birth. RESULTS: Mean (SD) heart rate during sleep was higher in infants born to mothers who were versus were not obese (123 (12.6) vs 114 (9.8) beats/min, p=0.002). Heart rate variability during sleep was lower in infants born to mothers who were versus were not obese (SD of normal-to-normal R-R interval 34.6 (16.8) vs 43.9 (16.5) ms, p=0.05). Similar heart rate changes were seen during wakefulness. Left ventricular end-diastolic volume (2.35 (0.14) vs 2.54 (0.29) mL/kg, p=0.03) and stroke volume (1.50 (0.09) vs 1.60 (0.14), p=0.04) were decreased in infants born to mothers who were versus were not obese. There were no differences in left ventricular end-systolic volume, ejection fraction, output or myocardial mass between the groups. CONCLUSION: Maternal obesity was associated with increased heart rate, decreased heart rate variability and decreased left ventricular volumes in newborns. If persistent, these changes may provide a causal mechanism for the increased cardiovascular risk in adult offspring of mothers with obesity. In turn, modifying antenatal and perinatal maternal health may have the potential to optimise long-term cardiovascular health in offspring.
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Groves et al. (2021) conducted an observational in Neonatal cardiac structure and function (n=31). Maternal obesity vs. No maternal obesity was evaluated on Mean heart rate during sleep (beats/min) (p=0.002). Maternal obesity was associated with a higher mean neonatal heart rate during sleep (123 vs 114 beats/min, p=0.002) and decreased left ventricular end-diastolic volume.
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