Fetal death: analysis of angiogenic and anti-angiogenic factors and minimally invasive autopsy

• Grant number: 18/19592-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: October 01, 2018
• End date: December 31, 2022
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Medicine - Maternal and Child Health
• Principal Investigator: Rossana Pulcineli Vieira Francisco
• Grantee: Luciana Duzolina Manfre Pastro
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina (FM). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 16/07765-0 - Fetal deaths: challenges for knowledge and intervention, AP.TEM

Abstract

A core issue in the study of fetal mortality has been the difficulty in determining the causes of death. In different countries, cultural difficulties related to necropsies in fetuses have contributed to the adoption of different protocols to establish the cause of death, which rely mainly on information from medical records. Under these conditions, the non-negligible proportion of deaths remains indeterminate. American multicenter study with autopsy performed identified the unfavorable obstetric conditions, presence of placental and fetal genetic abnormalities, maternal infections, umbilical cord abnormalities and maternal hypertensive disease as the main causes of fetal death. Routine investigations of fetal deaths, including placenta analysis and fetal necropsy, has been recommended for high-income countries. However, little is known about maternal and placental factors that could mediate the occurrence of fetal deaths in Brazil and more specifically in the city of São Paulo. Therefore, this project aims to characterize angiogenic and antiagiogenic factors expressed at the maternal-fetal interface and to correlate them with the occurrence of fetal death. Another objetive is to compare the minimally invasive autopsy with conventional autopsy to diagnose the cause of fetal death