title: Ultrasound evaluation of the amount of Wharton's jelly and the umbilical coiling index.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the association between the amount of Wharton's jelly (WJ) and the umbilical coiling index (UCI).
  
  
  METHODS
  The subjects included 140 pregnant women in the 2nd or 3rd trimester. The antenatal UCI was calculated as the reciprocal of the distance between a pair of coils. The sonographic cross-sectional areas of the cord, arteries and vein were measured. The WJ area was calculated by subtracting areas of the total vessels from the cord.
  
  
  RESULTS
  UCIs were significantly smaller and WJ areas were significantly greater in the 3rd trimester than in the 2nd trimester. No correlations were observed between the UCI and WJ area in both trimesters.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There is a reduction of the UCI during pregnancy. No direct correlations were found between the amount of WJ and UCI.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Showa University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Minoru
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kurita
authors.forename: Junichi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hasegawa
authors.forename: Takao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mikoshiba
authors.forename: Yuditiya
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Purwosunu
authors.forename: Ryu
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Matsuoka
authors.forename: Kiyotake
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ichizuka
authors.forename: Akhiko
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sekizawa
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Okai
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D011247:Pregnancy; D011262:Pregnancy Trimester, Second; D011263:Pregnancy Trimester, Third; D014463:Ultrasonography; D014470:Umbilical Cord / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*