Comparative Assessment of the Umbilical Artery Doppler Velocimetry and Non-Stress Test in Evaluating the Fetal Well-Being among Women with Pre-Eclampsia

Abstract

Background: Pre-eclampsia is defined as a systemic syndrome characterized by the new onset of raised blood pressure >140/90 mm Hg and proteinuria after 20 weeks of gestation in a previously normotensive woman. Reduction of neonatal complications of pre-eclampsia is feasible by assessment of fetal well-being. Both fetal Doppler and NST are used for the screening of high-risk pregnancies. Methods: It was a prospective comparative tertiary care hospital based study of pre-eclamptic women admitted in department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Lalla Ded hospital over a period of 18 months from March 2020 to September 2021. Written informed consent was obtained from the subjects prior to recruitment to the study. A total of 232 patients who were known case of pre-eclampsia or those who develop pre-eclampsia during hospital stay were included in our study. Results: Both NST and fetal UA Doppler velocimetry were significantly correlated with the perinatal outcome. However; UA Doppler velocimetry had more sensitivity than NST. In contrast, NST had slightly more specificity than UA Doppler velocimetry. Conclusion: The fetal umbilical artery Doppler velocimetry improves the sensitivity for the prediction of poor perinatal outcome when it is combined with the non-stress test. Both the tests are complimentary to one another in fetal surveillance of high risk pregnancies like pre-eclampsia. Keywords: Pre-eclampsia, Umbilical arteries, Ultrasonography, Doppler, NST, Prenatal diagnosis