Antenatal thymus volumes in fetuses that delivered <32 weeks' gestation: An MRI pilot study.
Lisa StoryTong ZhangAlena UusJana HutterAlexia EgloffDeena GibbonsAlison HoMudher Al-AdnaniCaroline L KnightIakovos TheodoulouMaria DeprezPaul T SeedRachel M TribeAndrew H ShennanMary RutherfordPublished in: Acta obstetricia et gynecologica Scandinavica (2020)
We have produced MRI-derived normal ranges for fetal thymus and thymus:body volume ratios between 20 and 32 weeks of gestation. Fetuses that deliver very preterm had reduced thymus volumes when standardized for fetal size. A reduced thymus volume was also a predictor of spontaneous preterm delivery. Thymus volume may be a suitable marker of the fetal inflammatory response, although further work is needed to assess this, increasing the sample size to correlate the extent of chorioamnionitis with thymus size.