Significance of abnormal umbilical artery Doppler studies in normally grown fetuses

Abstract

Abstract Objective To determine whether there is a relationship between abnormal umbilical artery Doppler studies (UADS) and small for gestational age (SGA) birth weight and other adverse perinatal outcomes in fetuses that appear normally grown by ultrasound. Methods This was a retrospective study of all women who had UADS performed at or after 26 weeks of gestation at our institution between January 2005 and December 2012. Women were excluded if they had a fetal demise, a fetus with growth restriction, a fetus with congenital anomaly, or a multiple gestation. Women with missing delivery outcomes were excluded. The primary outcome was birth weight below the 10th percentile. Results There were 2744 women included in the study. Of those, 98 (3.6%) had an abnormal UADS, and 379 (13.8%) had an SGA neonate. Of the 2646 women who had a normal UADS, 353 (13.3%) women had an SGA neonate. Twenty-six (26.5%) of the 98 women who had an abnormal UADS had an SGA neonate. After adjusting for potential confounders, the adjusted odds ratio for an SGA neonate with an abnormal UADS was 2.2 (95% CI, 1.38–3.58; p 0.05). Conclusions Our data suggest that abnormal UADS in fetuses that appear normally grown by ultrasound are associated with SGA neonates and NICU admission.

Keywords

• Doppler
• Intrauterine growth restriction
• Small for gestational age
• Umbilical artery Doppler