Doppler Ultrasound Evaluation Of Fetal Umbilical And Middle Cerebral Arteries In Pregnancies Complicated By Preeclampsia

A total of 60 viable singleton pregnant women were included in this study at their 3rd trimester of gestational age. They were divided into two groups; 30 patientswith mild (15) and severe (15) preeclampsia (preeclamptic group) and 30 normal pregnant women in the same age and trimester of gestational age (control group). Exclusion criteria included chronic hypertension, renal, liver, collagen vascular diseases, diabetes mellitus nd fetal malformation.Both groups were subjected to:(1) Measurement of maternal arterial blood pressuer and urine analysis.(2) Ultrasonographic estimation of gestational age, and fetal biophysical Profile (BPP).(3) Doppler studies of the resistance index (RI) of both the middle cerebral and umbilical arteries, from which the cerebral/umbilical (C/U) ratio was calculated.The neonates also were subjected to Apgar score estimation at 5 minutes, birth weight and admission to neonatal ICU.Our results showed no significant difference in the mean maternal age and gestational age between the two groups.The mean systolic/diastolic blood pressure was significantly higher in women with preeclampsia than in the controls. Also, it was significantly higher in severe PE than mild PE.There was significant difference between the control and cases in the gestational age at birth, neonatal birth weight, Apgar score at 5 minutes (lower than 7) and NICU admission. No significant difference was found between both groups regarding mode of delivery. In the preeclamptic group, we found significant difference in gestational age at delivery, mode of delivery, neonatal birth weight and NICU admission between mild PE and severe PE and insignificant difference regarding Apgar score at 5 minutes.