Heart disease is the leading cause of infant death related to birth defects. Congenital heart disease in which the left sided structures of the heart (left heart hypoplasia or LHH) are too small are among the most severe, and have some of the highest death and other complication rates.
We intend to study a new, non-invasive fetal intervention to help outcomes in children with LHH. We plan to study the effect of giving oxygen to mothers who have fetuses with small left-sided structures. We specifically will evaluate if the fetal left heart valves will grow faster if the mother breathes extra oxygen on a daily basis (at least 8 hours per day). Mothers and fetuses meeting criteria will be offered to enroll in the study. All enrolled mothers will be asked to receive oxygen continuously for the rest of the pregnancy using a non-rebreather mask. At birth, we will compare the fetuses whose mothers received oxygen to historical controls. We specifically will study how fast the left heart valves have grown.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
NON_RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
25
Oxygen is given to mothers at 8L through a non-rebreather mask.
Texas Children's Hospital Pavilion for Women
Houston, Texas, United States
Aortic annular dimension
By fetal echo the size of the aortic annulus in mm
Time frame: 2 years
Mitral annular dimension
By fetal echo the size of the mitral valve annulus in mm
Time frame: years
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