Devasuda Anblagan1, Ruta Deshpande2,
Alain Pitiot3, Carolyn Costigan1, Nia W. Jones2,
George Bugg2, Peter Mansell2, Nick Raine Fenning4,
Lopa Leach5, Penny A. Gowland1
1Sir Peter Mansfield
Magnetic Resonance Centre, University of Nottingham, Nottingham,
Nottinghamshire, United Kingdom; 2Nottingham University Hospitals
NHS Trust, University of Nottingham, United Kingdom; 3School of
Psychology, University of Nottingham, United Kingdom; 4School of
Clinical Sciences, University of Nottingham, United Kingdom; 5School
of Biomedical Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom
Macrosomia (birth weight > 90th percentile) is a common complication associated with diabetic pregnancies, and babies of mothers with established diabetes are at increased risk of developing Type 2 diabetes. The ability to measure fetal fat would be an invaluable tool in predicting adverse neonatal outcomes and managing diabetic pregnancies. We have considered two approaches to study the fetal fat composition using 1.5 T MRI: measuring fetal fat across the abdomen and measuring fetal fat across the whole body. We found that fetal fat volume is increased in the fetuses of diabetic mothers.