title: [Echocardiographic study on the anatomy and blood flow pattern of ductus arteriosus in normal fetus].
abstract: The anatomy and blood flow pattern of ductus arteriosus in fetus were studied by echocardiogram in 51 pregnant women. According to the duration of pregnancy, women were divided into 3 groups: group A (15-24 weeks) 15 cases; group B (25-34 weeks) 23 cases; and group C (35-41 weeks) 13 cases. The mean blood flow velocity in ductus arteriosus was 88.8 cm/sec in group A, 112.7 cm/sec in group B, and 130.4 cm/sec in group C (P < 0.0001), and they were significantly higher than that in aorta and pulmonary artery (P < 0.001). The characteristics of Doppler blood flow pattern was higher peak velocity in systolic and lower in diastolic. The ratio of diameter of right pulmonary artery to ductus arteriosus was 1:1. To recognize the characteristic blood flow pattern is a reliable sign to identify ductus arteriosus in fetus, and reference data of ductus arteriosus blood flow was presented.
authors.affiliation: Anzhen Hospital, Beijing.
authors.forename: Y F
authors.initials: YF
authors.lastname: Wu
mesh_terms: D001783:Blood Flow Velocity; D004373:Ductus Arteriosus / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D005318:Fetal Heart / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006801:Humans; D011247:Pregnancy; D012039:Regional Blood Flow; D016216:Ultrasonography, Prenatal