Ex-vivo MRI of Placentas from Women with Congenital Heart Disease: Reproducibility Assessment and Initial Results

Motivation: Women with CHD are prone to pregnancy complications associated with placental-dysfunction. Our understanding of this phenomenon remains limited, with unexplored data processing reproducibility. Goal(s): 1. Investigate maternal cardiovascular health's impact on placental vascular architecture. 2. Evaluate data processing method reproducibility. Approach: Placentas from mothers with cardiovascular disease and controls underwent ex-vivo MRI. Placental volume and vascular tree architecture were analyzed by two independent double-blinded annotators using established methods. Results: No group differences were observed. Annotator-related differences were only observed for vascular volume. We emphasize the need for expanded research into placental changes in women with cardiovascular diseases and standardization of data processing methods. Impact: This study investigates maternal cardiovascular health's impact on placental vascular architecture and evaluates data processing methods reproducibility. In order to understand placental dysfunction patterns across different populations, the need for expanded research and method standardization became evident.