Use of conditional centiles of middle cerebral artery pulsatility index and cerebroplacental ratio in the prediction of adverse perinatal outcomes.
Centiles of middle cerebral artery pulsatility index and cerebroplacental ratio are useful for predicting adverse perinatal outcomes. A 'conditional centile' is conditioned by a previous measurement reflecting degree of individual change over time. Here we test whether such centiles are independent predictors and whether their combination improves prediction.



This prospective longitudinal study included 220 pregnant women diagnosed with or at risk of having a small-for-gestational-age fetus. Serial Doppler measurements of the umbilical artery and middle cerebral artery pulsatility indexs were used to calculate cerebroplacental ratio. Preterm birth, operative delivery due to fetal distress, admission to neonatal intensive care unit, 5-min Apgar score <7, newborn hypoglycemia, and perinatal mortality were considered adverse outcomes. Possible associations were analyzed by log-binomial regression analysis.



Serial Doppler measurements of the middle cerebral artery were available in 207 participants and cerebroplacental ratio in 205. Conditional centiles ≤5 and ≤10 for both middle cerebral artery pulsatility index and cerebroplacental ratio were associated with increased risk for adverse perinatal outcomes. However, only the combination of cerebroplacental ratio centile and conditional centile ≤10 showed a better performance in the prediction of operative delivery due to fetal distress (p = 0.032), admission to neonatal intensive care unit (p = 0.048), and the combined variable "any adverse outcomes" (p = 0.034) compared with the use of centile ≤10 alone.



Conditional centile for middle cerebral artery pulsatility index and cerebroplacental ratio ≤5 and ≤10 are associated with adverse perinatal outcomes. When adding conditional centile to conventional centile for cerebroplacental ratio, the prediction improved compared with the use of conventional centile alone.
Research Group for Pregnancy, Fetal Development and Birth, Department of Clinical Science, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
Henriette O
0000-0001-9219-1702
HO
Karlsen
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway.
Cathrine
0000-0002-4331-1250
C
Ebbing
Research Group for Pregnancy, Fetal Development and Birth, Department of Clinical Science, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.|Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway.
Svein
0000-0002-5789-2922
S
Rasmussen
Research Group for Pregnancy, Fetal Development and Birth, Department of Clinical Science, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.|Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway.
Torvid
0000-0003-1825-1660
T
Kiserud
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway.
Synnøve L
0000-0003-3206-1943
SL
Johnsen
D005260:Female; D005317:Fetal Growth Retardation; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D020768:Middle Cerebral Artery; D011247:Pregnancy; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome; D011446:Prospective Studies; D016216:Ultrasonography, Prenatal; D014469:Umbilical Arteries
Cerebroplacental ratio; conditional centile; middle cerebral artery; perinatal outcomes; pulsatility index