Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33531040›Full record

ArticleBiology of sex differences2021

Sex differences in uterine artery Doppler during gestation in pregnancies complicated by placental dysfunction.

Leah Paranavitana, Melissa Walker, Anjana Ravi Chandran, Natasha Milligan, Shiri Shinar, Clare L Whitehead, Sebastian R Hobson, Lena Serghides, W Tony Parks, Ahmet A Baschat and 4 more

Open access · goldAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Biology of sex differences, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
7citing papers in PubMed
0.8field-weighted citation impact, top 27% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

7 citing papers in PubMed, 9 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Sex differences in human pre-gastrulation embryos.Science China. Life sciences · 2025
    Article
  4. Review
  5. The Placenta's Role in Sexually Dimorphic Fetal Growth Strategies.Reproductive sciences (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) · 2022
    Review
  6. Review
  7. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

14 authors at 7 institutions in 3 countries.

Leah ParanavitanaDepartment of Chemistry, Memorial University of Newfoundland, 283 Prince Philip Drive, St John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, A1B 3X7, Canada.
Melissa WalkerMount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Anjana Ravi ChandranMount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Natasha MilliganDivision of Cardiology, Department of Paediatrics, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Shiri ShinarMount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Clare L WhiteheadPregnancy Research Centre, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Royal Women's Hospital, Parkville, Australia.
Sebastian R HobsonMount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Lena SerghidesToronto General Hospital Research Institute, University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
W Tony ParksDepartment of Pathology, Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Ahmet A BaschatCentre for Fetal Therapy, Johns Hopkins Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Christopher K MacgowanTranslational Medicine, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
John G SledDepartment of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
John C KingdomMount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Lindsay S CahillDepartment of Chemistry, Memorial University of Newfoundland, 283 Prince Philip Drive, St John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, A1B 3X7, Canada. lcahill@mun.ca.ORCID 0000-0003-1667-8564
Mount Sinai Hospital · CAMemorial University of Newfoundland · CAUniversity of Toronto · CAHospital for Sick Children · CAJohns Hopkins University · USRoyal Women's Hospital · AUUniversity Health Network · CA

Funding

Environmental factors in placental pathology: a new diagnostic method based on umbilical vessel wave mechanicsU01HD087177 · NICHD · HOSPITAL FOR SICK CHLDRN (TORONTO) · PI SLED, JOHN G · 2015 to 2015
$2.5M
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development U01-087177-01NICHD NIH HHS U01 HD087177
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThere is growing evidence of sex differences in placental vascular development. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of fetal sex on uterine artery pulsatility index (PI) throughout gestation in a cohort of normal and complicated pregnancies.

methodsA prospective longitudinal study was conducted in 240 pregnant women. Pulsed wave Doppler ultrasound of the proximal uterine arteries was performed at a 4-weekly interval between 14 and 40 weeks of gestation. The patients were classified retrospectively as normal or complicated (one or more of maternal preeclampsia, preterm birth, or small for gestational age). To assess if the change in uterine artery PI during gestation differed between normal and complicated pregnancies and between fetal sexes, the uterine artery PI was modeled using a linear function of gestational age and the rate of change was estimated from the slope.

resultsWhile the uterine artery PI did not differ over gestation between females and males for normal pregnancies, the trajectory of this index differed by fetal sex for pregnancies complicated by either preeclampsia, preterm birth, or fetal growth restriction (p < 0.0001). The male fetuses in the complicated pregnancy group had an elevated slope compared to the other groups (p < 0.0001), suggesting a more progressive deterioration in uteroplacental perfusion over gestation.

conclusionsThe uterine artery PI is widely used to assess uteroplacental function in clinical settings. The observation that this metric changes more rapidly in complicated pregnancies where the fetus was male highlights the importance of sex when interpreting hemodynamic markers of placental maturation.

Indexed as

Pre-EclampsiaPremature BirthFemaleHumansInfant, NewbornLongitudinal StudiesMalePlacentaPregnancyProspective StudiesRetrospective StudiesSex CharacteristicsUltrasonography, DopplerUltrasonography, PrenatalUterine ArteryDoppler ultrasoundFetal sexPregnancyPulsatility indexSex differencesUterine artery

Identifiers

PMID33531040
PMCPMC7852081
OpenAlexW3128290851

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.