Umbilical artery waveforms in triplet pregnancy.
Twenty patients with triplet pregnancies underwent continuous-wave Doppler ultrasound umbilical artery waveform studies as part of a multiple-pregnancy surveillance program. One or more infants was small for gestational age in nine of these triplet pregnancies. In all of these cases, at least one abnormal umbilical artery velocity waveform was present. Two infants were stillborn, and both had a grossly abnormal umbilical artery waveform (absent diastolic flow) recorded consistently for several weeks before fetal death. The use of umbilical artery Doppler studies may delineate those triplet pregnancies in which more intensive fetal surveillance is appropriate.
Giles
W B
WB
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Sydney, Westmead Hospital, New South Wales, Australia.
Trudinger
B J
BJ
Cook
C M
CM
Connelly
A J
AJ
D001724:Birth Weight; D001783:Blood Flow Velocity; D005260:Female; D005323:Fetal Monitoring; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D011247:Pregnancy; D011272:Pregnancy, Multiple / Q000502:physiology*; D014310:Triplets; D014463:Ultrasonography; D014469:Umbilical Arteries / Q000502:physiology*