FIRST-TRIMESTER 3-DIMENSIONAL POWER DOPPLER OF THE UTEROPLACENTAL CIRCULATION AND PLACENTAL VOLUME IN PREDICTING ADVERSE PREGNANCY OUTCOMES

Abstract

The main objectives of modern antenatal care programs are to identify high risk pregnancies then to predict any possibility of adverse pregnancy outcome as early as possible. The invention of ultrasound & Doppler allowed obstetricians to study the fetus & the placenta properly & very early. The development of the human placenta is as uniquely intriguing. During its brief intrauterine existence, the fetus is dependent on the placenta for pulmonary, hepatic, and renal functions. The placenta accomplishes these functions through its unique anatomical association with the mother. Placental function is evaluated by Doppler ultrasound in several conditions, including preeclampsia, fetal growth restriction and other adverse pregnancy outcomes. Uterine artery pulsatility index and resistance index, measured by Doppler ultrasound, are indirect measures of placental resistance that have been related to incomplete transformation of uterine spiral arteries. They are associated with the risk of preeclampsia, and other placenta-mediated adverse pregnancy outcomes, such as FGR, placenta abruption and intrauterine fetal death.