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Abstract #4061

Changes in placental oxygenation in subclinical uterine contractions in the third trimester

Neele Dellschaft1, Simon Shah2, Christopher Bradley1, Lopa Leach3, Nia Jones4, Richard Bowtell1, and Penny Gowland1

1Sir Peter Mansfield Centre, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom, 2Medical Physics, Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, London, United Kingdom, 3Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom, 4CHild Health, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom

Subclinical uterine contractions in the third trimester have been detected with MRI in recent years and we regularly observe these contractions in 10 minute longitudinal scans. In a small pilot study, single echo-planar imaging T2* weighted scans and associated quantitative susceptibility maps suggest that the uterine contractions are localised to the placenta and that the placenta is more oxygenated after the contraction. We hypothesise that the contractions have the function of mixing of blood in the placenta to aid transport through what is otherwise a low flow system.

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