We'd like your feedback
Your feedback is important to us. It will help us improve the quality of the study information on this site. Please answer both questions.
Contact the study team using the details below to take part. If there are no contact details below please ask your doctor in the first instance.
Chloe
Brady
chloe.brady@manchester.ac.uk
Dr
Alexander
Heazell
alexander.heazell@manchester.ac.uk
Dr
Alexander
Heazell
alexander.heazell@manchester.ac.uk
Maternal care related to the fetus and amniotic cavity and possible delivery problems
This information is provided directly by researchers, and we recognise that it isn't always easy to understand. We are working with researchers to improve the accessibility of this information. In some summaries, you may come across links to external websites. These websites will have more information to help you better understand the study.
The placenta, the organ which supplies the developing fetus with oxygen and nutrients during pregnancy, is made up of half of the mother’s genes and half of the father’s. Normally, a foreign organ (like a transplant) would trigger the mother’s immune system, however in a healthy pregnancy the placenta is protected. In a condition known as chronic histiocytic intervillositis (CHI), this protection appears to fail, and the mother’s immune cells build up in the placenta, preventing the growth of the baby, or in severe cases causing fetal death. During the recent COVID-19 pandemic, CHI was also found in some placentas from stillbirths where the mother had been infected with the virus.
Currently, CHI can only be diagnosed by specialist doctors who examine the placenta under a microscope after a pregnancy has been affected, and there are no treatments proven to prevent it. The cause of CHI is unknown, though it has been suggested that the mother’s immune system reacts inappropriately towards the semi-foreign placenta. CHI is rare (0.17% of all pregnancies), but returns in 25-100% of future pregnancies.
This study, funded by Tommy’s Baby Charity, aims to investigate the behaviour of the mother’s immune cells in CHI by collecting blood and placental samples from women with the condition attending Saint Mary’s Hospital, Manchester, UK over a period of five years. Participant questionnaires and medical records will also be used to identify possible risk factors associated with the development of CHI, for example change in paternity or autoimmune disease. By better understanding the cause of CHI and how immune cells cause poor outcomes, more specific treatments may be developed in future to increase the chance that women will go on to have a healthy baby after their first diagnosis. Investigation of potential markers in the blood of affected women may also allow those at risk of developing CHI to be identified before they suffer a pregnancy loss.
Start dates may differ between countries and research sites. The research team are responsible for keeping the information up-to-date.
The recruitment start and end dates are as follows:
Observational type: Cohort study;
You can take part if:
You may not be able to take part if:
Women less than 18 years of age or greater than 50 years of age. Anyone lacking capacity to consent. Cases of CHI where the cause was deemed to be a result of a concurrent maternal infection other than SARS-CoV-2. Women who have limited ability to understand written English will be offered interpretation services to enable them to understand the study and participate if they wish.
Below are the locations for where you can take part in the trial. Please note that not all sites may be open.
Dr
Alexander
Heazell
alexander.heazell@manchester.ac.uk
Dr
Alexander
Heazell
alexander.heazell@manchester.ac.uk
Chloe
Brady
chloe.brady@manchester.ac.uk
The study is sponsored by University of Manchester and funded by TOMMY'S .
Your feedback is important to us. It will help us improve the quality of the study information on this site. Please answer both questions.
Read full details
for Trial ID: CPMS 59034
You can print or share the study information with your GP/healthcare provider or contact the research team directly.
