Fetal brain sparing is strongly related to the degree of increased placental vascular impedance
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Riffat Cheema
Abstract
Background: Doppler ultrasound examination has become an established method of clinical surveillance in high-risk pregnancies. Doppler indication of fetal brain sparing (BS) is an acknowledged sign of circulation redistribution during chronic hypoxia.
Objectives: To evaluate the relationship between placental vascular resistance and signs of BS in middle cerebral artery (MCA) blood flow velocity.
Methods: The MCA, uterine artery, and umbilical artery (UA) were located by color Doppler ultrasound in 103 high-risk pregnancies at risk for intrauterine fetal hypoxia. The blood velocity spectrum was analyzed for the following parameters: pulsatility index (PI) and signs of notching in the uterine arteries. Z-score was calculated for the MCA PI.
Results: Signs of BS in the MCA were correlated to increased placental vascular impedance. The degree of BS in the MCA expressed as Z-scores was correlated to increasing vascular impedance, both in the umbilical and uterine arteries, and to adverse outcome of pregnancy. The greatest deviation in MCA PI Z-scores was seen in preterm pregnancies.
Conclusion: A clear correlation exists between increasing placental vascular impedance and BS in the MCA. Preterm pregnancies express the greatest deviation from the mean MCA PI.
References
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©2006 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin New York
Articles in the same Issue
- Advances in Perinatal Medicine - 5th Annual meeting of the Italian Society of Perinatal Medicine held in Parma, Italy on June 15th – 17th 2006
- Hemorrhagic shock in obstetrics
- Altered protease expression by periarterial trophoblast cells in severe early-onset preeclampsia with IUGR
- Gestational diabetes mellitus in patients receiving long-term corticosteroid therapy during pregnancy
- Accuracy and influence of ascorbic acid on glucose-test with urine dip sticks in prenatal care
- Protein C, protein S, and thrombomodulin in amniotic fluid. A preliminary study
- Timing of cord clamping revisited
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- Maturation of the autonomic nervous system: differences in heart rate variability in premature vs. term infants
- Four chamber view plus three-vessel and trachea view for a complete evaluation of the fetal heart during the second trimester
- Pleural fluid/serum immunoglobulin ratio is a diagnostic marker for congenital chylothorax in utero
- Fetal brain sparing is strongly related to the degree of increased placental vascular impedance
- Outcome of fetuses in women with pregestational diabetes mellitus
- Outcome of fetuses in women with pregestational diabetes mellitus
- Inhaled nitric oxide therapy might reduce the need for hyperventilation therapy in infants with persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn
- To drain or not to drain: a single institution experience with neonatal intestinal perforation
- Infective puerperal endocarditis caused by Escherichia coli
- Correlation between plasma and urinary caffeine levels in preterm infants
- Fetal ascites secondary to urinary hydrocolpos
- Congress Calendar
- Suppression of IL-2 and IFN-γ production in women with spontaneous preterm labor
Articles in the same Issue
- Advances in Perinatal Medicine - 5th Annual meeting of the Italian Society of Perinatal Medicine held in Parma, Italy on June 15th – 17th 2006
- Hemorrhagic shock in obstetrics
- Altered protease expression by periarterial trophoblast cells in severe early-onset preeclampsia with IUGR
- Gestational diabetes mellitus in patients receiving long-term corticosteroid therapy during pregnancy
- Accuracy and influence of ascorbic acid on glucose-test with urine dip sticks in prenatal care
- Protein C, protein S, and thrombomodulin in amniotic fluid. A preliminary study
- Timing of cord clamping revisited
- Intrapartum cardiotocography – the dilemma of interpretational variation
- Maturation of the autonomic nervous system: differences in heart rate variability in premature vs. term infants
- Four chamber view plus three-vessel and trachea view for a complete evaluation of the fetal heart during the second trimester
- Pleural fluid/serum immunoglobulin ratio is a diagnostic marker for congenital chylothorax in utero
- Fetal brain sparing is strongly related to the degree of increased placental vascular impedance
- Outcome of fetuses in women with pregestational diabetes mellitus
- Outcome of fetuses in women with pregestational diabetes mellitus
- Inhaled nitric oxide therapy might reduce the need for hyperventilation therapy in infants with persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn
- To drain or not to drain: a single institution experience with neonatal intestinal perforation
- Infective puerperal endocarditis caused by Escherichia coli
- Correlation between plasma and urinary caffeine levels in preterm infants
- Fetal ascites secondary to urinary hydrocolpos
- Congress Calendar
- Suppression of IL-2 and IFN-γ production in women with spontaneous preterm labor