Abstract:

Objective To explore the value of indexes of uterine artery blood flow for the prediction of preeclampsia. Methods A total of 1 630 pregnant women who were registered in our hospital from April, 2012 to June, 2013 were selected. The systolic to diastolic velocity ratio (S/D), pulsation index (PI), resistance index (RI), and early diastolic notch of blood flow spectrum of both sides of uterine artery were measured in 11-14 and 22-24 weeks of pregnancy by the color Doppler ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus and were followed up till puerperium. Pregnant women were divided into the preeclampsia group and control group according to the pregnancy outcome. S/D, PI, and RI were used as test variables for the ROC curve and the predicted results were compared by the statistical test. The maximal Youden index was used as the predicted cut-off value for each index, which was then used as the scoring criterion to establish comprehensive scores. This method was adopted for preeclampsia prediction to determine the prediction scores and to evaluate the prediction effect. Results Among 1 630 pregnant women, 52 of them developed preeclampsia and 96 of them suffered from gestational hypertension, while 1 482 of them remained normal. The predicted cut-off values of S/D, PI and RI in the second trimester were 2.355 0, 0.877 5, and 0.580 0, respectively. Methods that adopted these three indexes for the prediction of preeclampsia showed statistical significance (P<0.01). It was statistically significant to use the comprehensive score of 3 as the cut-off value for predicting the preeclampsia (P=0.012) and the prediction specificity was 97.33%. Results of the prediction method negatively correlated with the birth weight and gestational weeks (P<0.01). Conclusion Indexes of uterine artery blood flow have a good clinical application value for the prediction of preeclampsia.

Key words: preeclampsia, forecasting, Doppler ultrasonography, scoring of uterine artery blood flow