Doppler examination in the evaluation of outcomes in pregnancies complicated by gestational hypertension and fetal intrauterine growth retardation--is it enough?
OBJECTIVE
The relations between abnormal umbilical and cerebral Doppler, cerebral-umbilical (C/U) ratio, and outcomes in pregnancies complicated by gestational hypertension and fetal intrauterine growth retardation were evaluated.


METHODS
A retrospective study of 53 monofetal pregnancies in 2010 was conducted at the Institute of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Belgrade.


METHODS
chi-square likelihood ratio test, Student's t-test and Spearman's coefficient correlation.


RESULTS
There was not a significant correlation between the timing of registration of abnormal umbilical Doppler to delivery and outcomes of high-risk pregnancies. There was a significant correlation between C/U ratio and APGAR-5 (p = 0.003). We found a significant correlation between neonatal birth weight and APGAR-5 (p = 0.000), neonatal asphyxia (p = 0.000), intracranial hemorrhage (p = 0.000) and respiratory distress syndrome (p = 0.000).


CONCLUSIONS
Umbilical and cerebral artery Doppler is a relatively poor predictor of neonatal outcome. It seems that neonatal birth weight is the best predictor of neonatal outcome in high-risk pregnancies.
Institute of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Clinical Center of Serbia, Belgrade, Serbia. ivana.r.babovic@gmail.com
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Babovic
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Plesinac
D000328:Adult; D001724:Birth Weight; D002585:Cesarean Section; D005260:Female; D005317:Fetal Growth Retardation / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D046110:Hypertension, Pregnancy-Induced / Q000503:physiopathology*; D017078:Laser-Doppler Flowmetry / Q000295:instrumentation; D008297:Male; D008833:Microcirculation / Q000502:physiology; D020768:Middle Cerebral Artery / Q000503:physiopathology; D010920:Placenta / Q000503:physiopathology; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011247:Pregnancy; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome; D012039:Regional Blood Flow; D014469:Umbilical Arteries / Q000503:physiopathology*; D055815:Young Adult