Placenta
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We previously reported blood oxygen level dependent MRI (BOLD-MRI) for monitoring placental and fetal hemodynamic changes in mice following maternal hypercapnia. Here we use BOLD-MRI to compare the placental and fetal hemodynamic effects of different maternal vasopressors in mice. ⋯ Phenylephrine induced BOLD-MRI-SI changes suggestive of placental and fetal hypoperfusion with brain sparing. Ephedrine induced BOLD-MRI-SI changes suggestive of increased cardiac output; we speculate that reduced fetal heart BOLD-MRI-SI may be due to increased fetal myocardial oxygen extraction or metabolic acidosis. The result demonstrates the potential of BOLD-MRI as a non-invasive hemodynamic tool for assessing pharmacodynamics effects in the placental and fetus.