Doppler Waveform Indices of Foetal Middle Cerebral Artery in Normal Pregnancies: Correlation with Gestational Age of 20 to 40 Weeks”

Currently, evaluation of fetal vessels by Doppler ultrasound has become standard for antenatal care of high risk pregnancies. Foetal Middle Cerebral Artery Doppler flow velocity waveform indices measurement is a well known modality for detecting foetal compromise in all over the world. The purpose of the study was to determine gestational age-dependent Doppler waveform indices of the foetal Middle Cerebral Artery (MCA) including Resistive Index (RI), Pulsatility Index (PI), Systolic to Diastolic (S/D) ratio and Peak Systolic Velocity (PSV) in normal Bangladeshi obstetric population of 20 to 40 weeks gestation and correlation of these indices with the increment of gestational age. In this cross sectional study, 56 pregnant women with normal healthy pregnancy and gestational age of 20 to 40 weeks were investigated for foetal MCA Doppler examination. In this study it was observed that RI, PI and S/D ratio were decreased with the increment of gestational age and PSV was increased with the increment of gestational age. It was also observed from correlation analysis between dependent Doppler indices with independent gestational age that only PSV had positive relationship (r = 0.652) and other had negative relationship. All the correlations were statistically significant (p< 0.0001).

Keywords: Doppler waveform indices, Foetal Middle Cerebral Artery, Gestational age of 20 to 40 weeks.