Maternal tissue blood flow and oxygen saturation in pre-eclampsia and intrauterine growth restriction.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the hypothesis that impaired maternal tissue perfusion occurs in pre-eclampsia and intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) and this correlates with maternal tissue oxygenation.


METHODS
Strain gauge plethysmography was used to compare maternal calf blood flow during the third trimester in 16 women with pre-eclampsia, 6 women with IUGR and 16 normal pregnant controls. A Mediaid iPOX pulse oximeter was used to measure maternal tissue oxygenation in the three groups and these were compared with tissue blood flow.


RESULTS
Maternal tissue blood flow was significantly reduced in pre-eclampsia compared to the two other groups (p=0.003). Blood flow was significantly reduced in pre-eclampsia compared to IUGR (p=0.03). However there was no difference in blood flow between normal pregnancy and IUGR groups (p=0.76). No significant difference was noted in maternal tissue oxygenation between the normal pregnancy, pre-eclampsia and IUGR groups (mean±S.E.M. [97.13±0.4, 96.69±0.33, 97.83±0.47 respectively], p=0.26). No correlation was noted between blood flow and tissue oxygenation in the three groups of women.


CONCLUSIONS
We have demonstrated that reduced maternal resting tissue blood flow present in women with pre-eclampsia is not seen in women with IUGR and the reduction in blood flow in pre-eclampsia is not associated with changes in maternal tissue oxygenation.
School of Life Sciences, Kingston University London, UK; Kings Mill Hospital, Mansfield, UK. Electronic address: docvijuk@hotmail.com.
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Karanam
School of Life Sciences, Kingston University London, UK.
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Page
School of Life Sciences, Kingston University London, UK; Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Kingston Hospital, London, UK.
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Anim-Nyame
D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D005317:Fetal Growth Retardation / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D007866:Leg / Q000098:blood supply*; D010092:Oximetry; D010100:Oxygen / Q000097:blood*; D011225:Pre-Eclampsia / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011263:Pregnancy Trimester, Third; D012039:Regional Blood Flow
D010100:Oxygen
Intrauterine growth restriction; Maternal tissue blood flow; Oxygen saturation; Pre-eclampsia; Pulse oximeter; Strain gauge plethysmography