Extent of absent end‐diastolic flow in umbilical artery and outcome of pregnancy

Abstract

What are the novel findings of this work?In fetuses with absent end-diastolic flow in the umbilical artery examined before 30 weeks' gestation, absence of end-diastolic flow for at least 30% of the cardiac cycle was associated with an increased risk of intrauterine death (sensitivity, 92% and negative predictive value (NPV), 98%) and of any (intrauterine or postnatal) death (sensitivity, 83% and NPV, 85%). What are the clinical implications of this work?In fetuses before 30 weeks' gestation, duration of absent end-diastolic umbilical artery flow for at least 30% of the cardiac cycle length might be useful for the prediction of the risk of fetal demise. This finding is particularly relevant to growth-restricted fetuses. After evaluation in further studies, the extent of absent end-diastolic flow might facilitate the decision on timing of delivery in very preterm growth-restricted fetuses.

Fetal growth restriction and stillbirth: Biomarkers for identifying at risk fetuses

“…A recent meta-analysis reported that the odds ratio of fetal death associated with early-onset FGR were 3.59 and 7.27 with absent and reversed UA end diastolic velocities, respectively (Caradeux et al, 2018). Furthermore, the extent of absent end diastolic velocity in the cardiac cycle was shown to be predictive of the risk of fetal death (Kinoshita et al, 2021).…”