OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the performance of velocimetric indices of uterine artery flow velocity waveforms (FVW's) at 20 weeks' gestation, alone or in combination with qualitative analysis, and establish the optimal screening method for the prediction of pre-eclampsia. METHODS: A total of 614 primiparous women had color flow/pulsed Doppler (CFPD) imaging ...

BACKGROUND: To assess whether the gestation at which abnormal uterine artery waveforms disappear is related to birthweight and complications of pregnancy. METHODS: A prospective study of outcome of pregnancy after a uterine artery Doppler screening program set in an inner city teaching hospital. One thousand five hundred and twenty-four consecutive ...

OBJECTIVES: To determine: 1. whether abnormal umbilical artery Doppler studies were independently associated with newborn morbidity; and 2. whether small for gestational age babies with normal umbilical artery Doppler studies had small mothers and a low rate of newborn malnutrition and morbidity. DESIGN: Prospective observational study. SETTING: National Women's Hospital, ...

To our knowledge this is the first reported case of a subdural hematoma, related to fetal autoimmune thrombocytopenia, diagnosed prenatally by ultrasound. The underlying etiology was hidden maternal autoimmune thrombocytopenia. This disease, which is as serious as alloimmune thrombocytopenia, causes severe fetal thrombocytopenia, which carries with it a high risk ...

OBJECTIVE: To determine the role of umbilical artery Doppler velocimetry in the management of oligohydramnios. STUDY DESIGN: In a retrospective chart review covering a two-year period, pregnancies with oligohydramnios evaluated by Doppler velocimetry of the umbilical artery were identified. Those patients with ruptured membranes and complex congenital anomalies were excluded ...

The objective of the present study was to evaluate power Doppler of the endometrium as a parameter for the prognosis of embryo implantation in patients who underwent intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). The power Doppler was performed on a transverse section at the level of the uterine fundus on the day ...

In pregnancies complicated by pre-eclampsia (PET) and/or intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) there is an increased number of fetal cells in the maternal circulation. The aim of this study was to investigate whether this increase in fetal cells precedes the onset of these pregnancy complications. Doppler ultrasound studies at 24 weeks ...

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the influence of uterine artery impedance to blood flow on the day of embryo transfer for prediction of early pregnancy loss and obstetric outcome. METHODS: The uterine artery pulsatility index (PI) and resistance index (RI) were evaluated prospectively by transvaginal Doppler in 102 infertile women, who conceived ...

OBJECTIVE: To test the hypothesis of the existence of a relationship between central and peripheral hemodynamic parameters by the longitudinal evaluation of maternal echocardiographic and uteroplacental resistance modifications during normal pregnancy. METHODS: Forty-three healthy normotensive primigravidae were evaluated at 12 +/- 1, 21 +/- 1, and 33 +/- 1 weeks ...

OBJECTIVE: To assess endothelial function in normal pregnancy by non-invasive methods. METHODS: Flow-mediated dilatation of the brachial artery was measured by ultrasonography in 157 women with normal singleton pregnancies between 10 and 40 weeks' gestation and 19 non-pregnant controls. RESULTS: Flow-mediated dilatation in the non-pregnant controls was 6.42 +/- 2.45%. ...

Vasodilation that occurs during normal pregnancy is associated with enhanced relaxation and decreased contractile response to agonists, which are in part due to increased stimulated and basal nitric oxide (NO). In preeclampsia and/or pregnancies carried at high altitude (HA), this normal vascular adjustment is reversed or diminished. We previously reported ...

The object of this study was to investigate the fetal renal arterial blood flow in normal and hyperechogenic kidneys during the third trimester of gestation. The pregnancies screened were all chronically hypoxic. Depending on the etiology of the intrauterine chronic hypoxia, the cases were divided into two study groups. Group ...

Enlargement of the uterine artery (UA) during pregnancy is diminished in women residing at a high altitude. We asked whether chronic hypoxia alters the rise in DNA synthesis in uteroplacental vessels and, if so, whether the reduction is related to the intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR) observed under conditions of chronic ...

OBJECTIVE: The objective of the current study was to evaluate fetal arterial and venous Doppler parameters in postterm pregnancies with oligohydramnios and those with normal amniotic fluid. STUDY DESIGN: A cross-sectional study was performed in 38 pregnancies beyond 41 weeks' gestation. Pulsed Doppler imaging was used to determine the pulsatility ...

OBJECTIVE: We sought to investigate the subclinical effect of external cephalic version on fetal circulation. Study Design: A prospective observational study was conducted on 136 subjects who had external cephalic version at or beyond 36 weeks of gestation without clinical complication. Doppler ultrasonographic studies of the umbilical and middle cerebral ...

OBJECTIVE: Subject of the study was the significance of umbilical artery Doppler velocimetry findings for the further course of pregnancy and fetal outcome in cases of twin pregnancies. METHODS: In 206 cases of twin pregnancy, the umbilical artery was examined using Doppler velocimetry in the median 9 days prior to ...

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether an intravascular ultrasound contrast agent used in the examination of uteroplacental circulation in late pregnancy has any effect on fetal cardiotocographic (CTG) parameters or fetal well-being. METHODS: The uteroplacental circulation of 69 women with singleton third trimester pregnancies was examined by power Doppler with contrast agent ...

OBJECTIVE: Our purpose was to evaluate the usefulness of early diastolic notch depth in predicting adverse perinatal outcome. Study Design: Uterine artery Doppler velocimetry is widely applied in predicting pregnancy outcomes. Recent studies of uterine artery early diastolic notch have demonstrated its usefulness as a marker for fetal well-being. The ...

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of maternal dexamethasone administration on umbilical and fetal cerebral artery flow velocity waveforms. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTING: Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Robert Ballanger Hospital, Aulnay-sous-Bois, France. SAMPLE: Twenty-six pregnant women with singleton pregnancies considered at risk for preterm delivery. At baseline, all pregnancies had ...

The objective of this study was to establish the echocardiographic modality that best correlates with electrical events in the fetal heart. No documentation on the relationship between electrical events recorded with a surface ECG and fetal M-mode or Doppler echocardiographic measurements is available. The following ultrasound tracings were recorded simultaneously ...

OBJECTIVE: To assess the roles of endometrial thickness and pattern, as well as vascular impedance of the spiral and uterine arteries and dominant follicle in predicting the pregnancy rate in women receiving controlled ovarian hyperstimulation (COH) following by intrauterine insemination (IUI). STUDY DESIGN: All idiopathically infertile couples who accepted COH ...

Uteroplacental insufficiency leads to fetal growth retardation, which is a major cause of perinatal and postnatal morbidity. In the present study we investigated the relationship between prenatal haemodynamic disturbances and postnatal intestinal perfusion and gastrointestinal function in small-for-gestational-age neonates. Prospectively, 114 preterm neonates with a birthweight below 1500 g were ...

Umbilical cord length has long been investigated as a potential marker of intrauterine events that may place the neonate at risk for future adverse developmental sequelae. Experimentally, significantly shortened cords have been reported in association with prenatal exposure to common drugs of abuse. This study in rats reports the time ...

BACKGROUND: Umbilical cord knots may represent a hazard to the fetus, particularly as regards intrauterine death and fetal distress or asphyxia in labor. The object of this study was to analyze the impact of associated umbilical cord encirclements and cord length on fetal outcome and fetal weight deviation. METHODS: Among ...

The objective was to evaluate the effect of aspirin on infertile women with thin endometrium. Patients who had thin endometrium (< or = 8 mm) and intrauterine insemination were divided into the aspirin and nonaspirin groups. Endometrial pattern (trilaminar and nontrilaminar) and thickness, the pulsatility index (PI) and resistance index ...

PURPOSE: We assessed vascular impedance in the spiral arteries in the central and peripheral placental bed throughout uncomplicated pregnancies. METHODS: Transabdominal color Doppler sonography was used to measure the pulsatility index (PI), resistance index (RI), and peak systolic velocity in the central and peripheral spiral arteries in 94 women with ...

Unexplained maternal serum-fetoprotein (MSAFP) elevation has been known to be associated with adverse obstetric outcomes, however it is not sufficiently useful as a screening test. This study was undertaken to determine whether uterine artery Doppler velocimetry could define a subset of patients with an elevated MSAFP level in whom complications ...

OBJECTIVES: To measure fetal peripheral pulmonary artery velocity waveforms by Doppler ultrasonography in pregnancies complicated by premature rupture of membranes under 24 weeks' gestation and to relate the Doppler indices to the development of fetal pulmonary hypoplasia. DESIGN: A prospective longitudinal study of fetal peripheral pulmonary artery velocity waveforms from ...

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the role of umbilical Doppler velocimetry combined with ultrasonographic intertwin differences derived from estimated fetal weight, biparietal diameter, abdominal circumference and femur length as a comprehensive test for the prediction of discordancy. METHODS: The sets of twins were studied with real-time ultrasonography for morphometric measurements and with ...

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether a single oral dose of misoprostol is associated with change in Doppler resistance indices (RIs) of the uterine artery in early pregnancy. METHODS: Forty pregnant women seeking legal termination of pregnancy at 7-15 completed gestational weeks were each given a single oral dose of 200 microg ...

OBJECTIVES: Our goal was to determine the degree of shunting through the ductus venosus in the human fetus and its possible association with fetal growth. STUDY DESIGN: Blood flow in the umbilical vein and the fetal ductus venosus was measured in 197 low-risk pregnancies in a cross-sectional ultrasonographic study at ...

INTRODUCTION: Preeclampsia is associated with an increased risk for maternal and fetal morbidity. The aim of this study was to identify factors predicting for maternal or fetal complications. MATERIAL AND METHODS: One hundred and eleven patients with preeclampsia were included. Endpoint variables were maternal and fetal complications. Any of the ...

BACKGROUND: Low endothelial generation of prostacyclin (PGI(2)) is a typical feature of pregnancy-induced hypertensive disorders. The aim of the current study was to establish whether changes in PGI(2) are accompanied by alterations in fetoplacental blood flow and to test the hypothesis that PGI(2) deficiency contributes to reduced fetoplacental perfusion in ...

BACKGROUND: Antenatal steroid administration decreases fetal mortality and morbidity in preterm neonates. However, maternal steroids administration can cause a transient reduction in fetal heart rate variability and can also alter biophysical profile parameters. Other methods to assess fetal well-being in high-risk fetuses are therefore needed, when steroids are given in ...

OBJECTIVE: This study was undertaken to determine whether the frequency of fetal surveillance could be safely reduced from twice weekly to fortnightly in the case of small-for-gestational-age fetuses with normal results of umbilical artery Doppler velocimetry studies. STUDY DESIGN: Pregnant women between 24 and 36 weeks' gestation (n = 167) ...

OBJECTIVE: To assess uteroplacental circulation in patients with first-trimester threatened abortion with a living embryo. DESIGN: Prospective, cross-sectional study. SETTING: Tertiary care university hospital. PATIENT(S): Forty-nine patients with first-trimester threatened abortion and a living embryo and 129 women with singleton, low-risk, normally developing first-trimester pregnancies recruited as controls. INTERVENTION(S): Transvaginal ...

OBJECTIVE: To assess the role of Doppler uterine artery screening in the prediction of recurring hypertensive disorders in a high-risk population. METHODS: Ninety-four women with a history of hypertensive disorders in previous pregnancies underwent ultrasound color Doppler to analyze blood flow in the uterine arteries at 21-22 weeks of gestation. ...

The objective of this paper is to identify maternal risk factors for abnormal vascular coiling of the umbilical cord. The umbilical cords of 657 neonates were examined and the coiling index determined by dividing the total number of complete vascular coils by the length of the cord in cm. Obstetrical ...

Our purpose was to determine whether small-for-gestational-age (SGA) fetus can be divided to subclassified groups using fetal Doppler velocimetry. Fifty-four pregnant women with SGA infant delivered after 37 weeks of gestation were studied. After 24 weeks of gestation, fetal middle cerebral artery puslatility index (MCAPI) and umbilical artery pulsatility index ...

PURPOSE: To perform reference ranges and standard percentile-curves for the Doppler indices resistance index (RI) and systolic/diastolic (S/D) ratio of the fetal middle cerebral artery, periodical color doppler sonographic measurements of 70 pregnant women in the 3rd trimester of pregnancy were done. METHODS: 600 Doppler flow measurements of the fetal ...

Colorectal carcinoma presenting during pregnancy is an extremely rare condition associated with a poor prognosis. In this report we studied a patient referred to our hospital at 26 weeks of gestation with the diagnosis of rectal adenocarcinoma. Tumor resection with a colostomy was planned in the attempt to preserve pregnancy ...

BACKGROUND: Abnormal waveforms from Doppler ultrasound may indicate poor fetal prognosis. It is also possible that Doppler ultrasound could encourage inappropriate early delivery. OBJECTIVES: The objective of this review was to assess the effects of Doppler ultrasound in high risk pregnancies on obstetric care and fetal outcomes. SEARCH STRATEGY: We ...

The objective to characterize neonatal outcome associated with ultrasonographic identification of a single umbilical artery. Pregnancies diagnosed with single umbilical artery antenatally were identified. All prenatal/antenatal and pediatric records were reviewed for maternal demographics, associated anomalies, karyotypic analysis, pregnancy complications, and neonatal outcome. Twenty-seven pregnancies complicated by fetal single umbilical ...

OBJECTIVE: This study was conducted to evaluate uteroplacental and fetal hemodynamics in fetuses exposed to low-dose aspirin (100 mg/d). DESIGN: Randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind trial. SUBJECTS: The study protocol included singleton pregnancies of less than 20 gestational weeks at risk for pre-eclampsia or fetal growth restriction. Exclusion criteria were diabetes mellitus, ...

Doppler ultrasound used for the assessment of the fetal umbilical circulation in the human pregnancy has been reported in the scientific literature since the early 1980s and has been rigorously evaluated by randomized, controlled trials. The consensus of the reviewers of these trials is that there do appear to be ...

The application of Doppler velocimetry in the evaluation of the normal human fetal circulation targeting organs such as the placenta, the liver, the brain, and the lungs is presented. Conditions wherein evaluation of the fetal circulation becomes important are many. These conditions include, but are not limited to, intrauterine growth ...

PURPOSE: To determine and compare the diagnostic performance of fetal middle cerebral (MCA), renal (RA), and umbilical (UA) arterial Doppler ultrasonography (US) for prediction of adverse perinatal outcome in suspected intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two hundred ninety-three small-for-gestational age fetuses (24-39 weeks at recruitment and US-estimated weight ...

The adrenomedullin (AM) peptide and the expression of AM messenger RNA (mRNA) from feto-maternal tissues of 22 normotensive pregnant women and from 7 women with pregnancy-induced hypertension (PIH) during third-trimester were examined to clarify the pathophysiological features of PIH. Samples of the placenta, uterine muscle, umbilical artery, and fetal membranes ...

This study was performed to investigate the hypothesis that insulin-like growth factor binding protein-1 (IGFBP-1) is involved in the pathogenesis of trophoblast invasion and impaired placentation in human pregnancy. The role of total and non-phosphorylated IGFBP-1 in women with fetal growth restriction and in high risk pregnancies identified by uterine ...

The aim of this study was to assess any possible correlation between villous tree architecture and its vascularization, and absent or reversed end-diastolic flow velocity (ARED) in the umbilical artery. The study group included seven pregnancies complicated by IUGR (estimated fetal weight < 10th percentile) and absent end-diastolic flow velocity ...