[Evaluation of fetal development and well-being with the ultrasonic Doppler fetal actocardiograph].
Fetal development and well-being were investigated during pregnancy with respect to the relation between fetal movement (FM) and fetal heart rate (FHR) in 192 normal and 43 high-risk fetuses in the antepartum period utilizing ultrasonic Doppler fetal actocardiograph that enabled the simultaneous and continuous recording of FM and FHR by single ultrasonic probe. The analysis of simultaneously obtained records of FHR and the movements of fetal trunk and legs revealed that gross fetal trunk movement was mainly related with FHR acceleration. The number of FM signal bursts, which was accompanied by fetal trunk rotating movements, showed a peak at 30-31 weeks of gestation and decreased in the other stage of pregnancy. The synchronization rate of FM signal bursts to transient FHR rises increased with gestational age, and the amplitude and inclination of the rise accompanied by bursts increased linear from the 24th to the 38th week of gestation. Fetuses of high-risk pregnancy produced on antepartum actocardiogram with low FM and FHR values. The changes were particularly remarkable in the cases of intrauterine growth retardation and/or gestosis.
D005314:Embryonic and Fetal Development; D005260:Female; D005317:Fetal Growth Retardation / Q000175:diagnosis; D005323:Fetal Monitoring / Q000295:instrumentation*; D005324:Fetal Movement; D005865:Gestational Age; D006340:Heart Rate, Fetal; D006801:Humans; D011247:Pregnancy; D011296:Prenatal Diagnosis / Q000295:instrumentation; D012306:Risk; D014463:Ultrasonography / Q000295:instrumentation*