title: Umbilical artery waveform during bicycle exercise in normal pregnancy.
abstract: Eighteen healthy pregnant women in the last half of gestation exercised to 85% of their predicted maximum heart rate on a bicycle ergometer. Pulsed Doppler flow studies before the exercise and during the recovery period were taken close to the umbilical artery's placental insertion site. The systolic-to-diastolic ratio (S/D) of the umbilical artery waveform did not change significantly during the period of observation. In three women, however, a significant increase in the S/D ratio occurred in the first few minutes post-exercise; this was due to a transient fetal bradycardia. In one woman, the S/D ratio remained high despite return of a normal fetal heart rate.
authors.affiliation: Department of Reproductive Biology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio.
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Veille
authors.forename: A E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Bacevice
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Janos
authors.forename: H K
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Hellerstein
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015444:Exercise; D005080:Exercise Test; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate; D006340:Heart Rate, Fetal; D006801:Humans; D010925:Placental Function Tests; D011247:Pregnancy / Q000502:physiology*; D014465:Ultrasonics; D014463:Ultrasonography; D014469:Umbilical Arteries / Q000502:physiology*