Fetal cardiovascular imaging: In-utero environment and its consequences for life

The overall purpose is to clarify the pathophysiology of fetal cardiovascular malformations and placental dysfunction including long-term consequences of the in-utero environment. The project aims to provide further improved in-utero diagnosis of fetal cardiovascular malformations for routine clinical application, and validated methods for quantification of fetal cardiac volumes and function, fetal blood flow and non-invasive measurement of fetal oxygen saturation and utilisation. By bridging studies from prenatal to postnatal life we aim to provide improved biomarkers by continued in-house development and validation of methods, and continue to challenge existing non-validated methods. By also already today studying long-term consequences in populations included approximately 20 years ago, we aim to understand long-term effects, and to use that data as hypothesis-generating for prospective inclusion of fetuses today for follow-up studies over the coming decades.