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Low Levels of Blood Alcohol and Fetal Myocardial Function

Perinatal and Cardiology Sections, Department of Pediatrics, Centre de Recherche Pédiatrique, Hôpital Ste-Justine, University of Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

In ten experiments carried out on five chronically catheterized pregnant ewes (130 to 140 gestational days), 0.8 ml/kg absolute ethyl alcohol was injected into the mothers over a ten-minute period. Peak maternal and fetal alcoholemia levels were 1.1 ± 0.1 and 0.9 ± 0.04 g/L, respectively. Blood gases (arterial Po₂, Pco₂, pH, and arterial O₂ content), cardiovascular parameters (heart rate, arterial pressures), and fetal myocardial function (systolic time intervals) were studied at basal state and during the four hours after injection. To observe changes in fetal O₂ affinity, 2–3 diphosphoglycerate concentration and P₅₀ were assessed before and at the peak of blood alcohol level. Maternal and fetal blood ethyl alcohol levels correlated closely (r² = 0.9512) during all experiments. A small increase in the fetal arterial pH and a decrease in maternal Pco₂ was observed just after the injection. This low level of fetal blood alcohol caused a moderate but significant decrease in myocardial contractility as judged by the changes in systolic time intervals. There was no alteration of other cardiovascular parameters and of hemoglobin oxygen affinity.