Integrated 2D Doppler indices of uteroplacental and fetal blood flow in diagnosis of intrauterine hypoxia

Relevance . Intrauterine hypoxia associated with placental disorders is a significant factor of ante-, intra- and postnatal fetal and newborn death. Despite clinical examination of pregnant women using ultrasound and cardiotocography, cases of intrauterine hypoxia often remain undetected prenatally. Clinical manifestation of placental disorders and intrauterine hypoxia are associated with pathological changes of blood flow resistance in the uterine, placental and fetal vessels. A combined Doppler assessment of blood flow in the uterine, placental and fetal vessels could improve detection of intrauterine hypoxia. The aim of the study was to assess the prognostic significance of integrated 2D Doppler indices of uteroplacental and fetal blood flow for the detection of fetal hypoxia in the 3rd trimester and to predict unfavorable perinatal outcomes. Materials and Methods. The outcomes of pregnancy of 48 women with fetal hypoxia delivered at 29 - 40 gestational weeks (study group), and 21 women who gave birth to healthy full-term infants (control group) were retrospectively analyzed. On the eve of delivery all women had 2D Doppler assessment of the uterine arteries, umbilical arteries, and fetal middle cerebral artery with an assessment of the cerebro-placental ratio, umbilical-cerebral ratio and cerebro-placental-uterine ratio. Results and Discussion . Analysis of the obtained values of cerebro-placental-uterine ratio, cerebro-placental ratio and umbilical-cerebral ratio showed the benefit from use of integrated 2D Doppler indices in the diagnosis of fetal hypoxia at 29 - 40 gestations’ weeks and in predicting complications in newborns. The high sensitivity of the cerebro-placental-uterine ratio (90.5%) makes it possible to effectively use this index for the diagnosis of intrauterine hypoxia. Conclusion. Pathological cerebro-placental-uterine ratio < 2.44 is a clinically significant 2D Doppler criterion that predicts a high risk of asphyxia, respiratory distress syndrome, hypotrophy, and perinatal hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy. Lower values of the cerebro-placental ratio and umbilical-cerebral ratio sensitivity (77.1% and 81.3%, respectively) limit their use for the diagnosis of fetal hypoxia as compared with cerebro-placental-uterine ratio.