Ophthalmic artery Doppler as a measure of severe pre-eclampsia.
OBJECTIVE
To identify differences in orbital flow behavior in mild and severe pre-eclamptic women compared with healthy pregnant women, demonstrated by ophthalmic artery Doppler indexes.


METHODS
Ophthalmic artery Doppler indexes of 20 mild and 20 severe pre-eclamptic women were compared with 51 healthy pregnant women. Right and left eye Doppler index means were evaluated and the resistance index (RI), pulsatility index (PI), peak systolic velocity (PSV), end diastolic velocity (EDV), and peak ratio (PR) were calculated.


RESULTS
Statistically significant differences were observed between PR, PSV, and EDV (P=0.0009, P=0.0020, P=0.0001) ophthalmic artery Doppler in a comparison of women with mild and severe pre-eclampsia. Statistically significant differences were seen between all Doppler indexes of the study group and healthy pregnant women. Ophthalmic PR, PSV, and EDV were significantly higher in severe pre-eclamptic cases but other index parameters did not show any difference. An elevation of diastolic and systolic flow occurred when pre-eclampsia became severe.


CONCLUSIONS
Orbital vascular impedance reduction with orbital hyperperfusion was present in severe pre-eclamptic women compared with mild pre-eclamptic and healthy pregnant women. Ophthalmic Doppler is a novel parameter that may be useful in the diagnosis of severe pre-eclampsia.
Diniz
A L D
AL
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Federal University of Uberlândia, Uberlândia, Brazil. angelyca@uai.com.br
Moron
A F
AF
dos Santos
M C
MC
Sass
N
N
Pires
C R
CR
Debs
C L
CL
D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D017078:Laser-Doppler Flowmetry; D009880:Ophthalmic Artery / Q000502:physiology*; D009915:Orbit / Q000098:blood supply; D011225:Pre-Eclampsia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D012039:Regional Blood Flow; D012720:Severity of Illness Index