Middle cerebral artery blood flow in normal and growth-retarded fetuses.
Doppler ultrasonography of the middle cerebral artery was performed on 17 fetuses that were small for gestational age at the time of delivery. Results were compared with a group of 25 fetuses that had a normal weight for gestational age at the time of delivery. Despite a significant difference in fetal weight and systolic/diastolic ratio of the umbilical artery between the two groups, no difference was found in either the systolic/diastolic ratio or in the Pourcelot index of the middle cerebral artery. This may reflect a protective effect on the brain circulation in the small-for-gestational-age fetus.
Veille
J C
JC
Department of Reproductive Biology, MacDonald Hospital for Women, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio.
Cohen
I
I
D002560:Cerebrovascular Circulation; D003971:Diastole; D005260:Female; D005317:Fetal Growth Retardation / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005333:Fetus / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D011247:Pregnancy; D013599:Systole; D014463:Ultrasonography