The influence of maternal exercise on placental blood flow measured by Simultaneous Multigate Spectral Doppler Imaging (SM-SDI)
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the effect of maternal isometric exercise on the placental blood flow as reflected by the velocimetric indices PI and RI derived from placental arteries.


METHODS
Thirty-four healthy women with normal singleton pregnancies between 22 and 35 weeks of gestation.


METHODS
All subjects underwent an isometric handgrip exercise test. Maternal blood pressure and heart rate together with placental PI and RI were measured at rest, during the exercise and in the post-exercise recovery phase. All Doppler measurements were obtained using the Simultaneous Multigate Spectral Doppler Imaging (SM-SDI) technique, a new ultrasound modality that enables a Doppler study of multiple locations to take place within a very short time.


RESULTS
There was a significant increase in the mean values of the maternal blood pressure and heart rate during the exercise and a significant decline in the recovery phase. There was no significant change in the mean values of the Doppler indices throughout the examination.


CONCLUSIONS
Isometric handgrip exercise test during pregnancy does not affect the impedance of the placental circulation.
Feiner
B
B
Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Faculty of Medicine, Haifa, Israel.
Weksler
R
R
Ohel
G
G
Degani
S
S
D000328:Adult; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006439:Hemodynamics / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D021041:Placental Circulation / Q000502:physiology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011262:Pregnancy Trimester, Second; D011263:Pregnancy Trimester, Third; D012016:Reference Values; D016216:Ultrasonography, Prenatal / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data