Evaluation of the efficacy of Doppler flow velocity waveform analysis as a screening test in pregnancy

Article Abstract:

Doppler ultrasonography, the use of high frequency sound to study the motion of fluids, can be used to study the blood flow through blood vessels in the placenta, the organ of fetal nutrition and fetus' source of oxygen. It has been suggested that abnormal blood flow patterns in the placenta can predict the development of fetal complications. The use of Doppler waveform patterns as a pregnancy screening tool was investigated in 535 medium-risk pregnancies. Ultrasonography, the use of high frequency sound to visualize internal structures, was used to determine the pattern of growth and the size of the fetus. The evaluations were performed at 18, 24, 28 and 34 weeks of pregnancy. There was a relationship between the placental Doppler pattern and a decreased supply of oxygen in the fetal blood (hypoxia) at 24 weeks of pregnancy. Fetal hypoxia was not found in 70 percent of the fetuses that produced abnormal ultrasound results. Abnormal blood flow through the umbilical artery was able to predict fetal growth retardation at 24, 28, and 34 week gestations. When hypoxia was measured, the predictive value of the screening was increased. Umbilical artery patterns as the primary screening tool were not an effective predictor of hypoxia. Although the waveform patterns may be abnormal in growth-retarded fetuses and fetuses with hypoxia beginning at 18 weeks of pregnancy, the association may not be strong enough to use this as a primary diagnostic test. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Analysis

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Middle cerebral artery blood flow in normal and growth-retarded fetuses

Article Abstract:

The blood flow in the brain (cerebral blood flow) can be measured using Doppler ultrasound, the use of high frequency sound to study the movement of fluids. It is suspected that the blood flow in the cerebral artery in the brain of growth-retarded fetuses is altered. The middle cerebral arteries in the brains of 17 small-for-gestational-age (SGA) fetuses were studied. The Doppler results were compared with 25 appropriately sized fetuses. The blood pressure in the umbilical artery differed between SGA and normal sized fetuses. The two indices used in this assessment are not absolute measurements of blood flow but of the resistance of blood flow through the blood vessel. There was no difference in the Doppler pattern produced by blood flow in the middle cerebral artery between the age-matched growth-retarded and normal sized fetuses. A study measuring the change in blood flow as the fetus becomes growth retarded is suggested. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Measurement, Blood flow measurement

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Experimental intrauterine Ureaplasma infection in sheep

Article Abstract:

A hypothesizes that intra-amniotic ureaplasmas would cause lung inflammation and alter fetal lung development is presented. However, studies conducted concluded that long-term exposure to ureaplasmas in amniotic altered ovine fetal development.

Causes of, Complications and side effects, Risk factors, Fetal development, Ureaplasma urealyticum

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