Figure 3
The relationship between the COVID-19 pandemic, maternal mental distress and placental development. In Step 1, COVID-19 was associated with 14 placental features, including placental morphometry (volume, thickness, elongation) and texture (mean gray level (GL), kurtosis, skewness, energy, long run emphasis (LRE), run-length non-uniformity (RLNU), Low GL run emphasis (LGLRE), high GL run emphasis (HGLRE), short run low- and high- gray level emphases (SRLGLE/SRHGLE) and long run high gray level emphasis (LRHGLE). In Step 2, COVID-19 was associated with significant increase in maternal stress and depression, compared to pre-pandemic controls. In Step 3, we re-evaluate the association between COVID-19 and placental developing while adjusting for maternal distress and found that placental volume, thickness, mean GL, kurtosis, skewness, energy, RLNU, LGLRE, HGLRE, SRGLRE and SRHLE remained significantly different between pandemic and pre-pandemic controls. Features denoted by ** (q < 0.05) highlight features that remain significant after adjusting for multiple comparisons. All steps also were adjusted for gestational age at MRI.
