Objective
To assess whether abnormal uterine artery Doppler ultrasound during weeks 21–23 of pregnancy was associated with an increased risk of pre‐eclampsia.
Methods
Our retrospective cohort study analyzed uterine artery ultrasound parameters in singleton pregnant women at 21–23 weeks of pregnancy and assessed the association between abnormal ultrasound findings and the risk of pre‐eclampsia. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was conducted to estimate the relative risk between uterine artery ultrasound and pre‐eclampsia.
Results
Compared with normal results, unilateral pulsatile index abnormality (odds ratio [OR] 2.3, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.71–3.10), bilateral pulsatile index anomalies (OR 6.21, 95% CI 3.53–10.95), unilateral resistance index abnormality (OR 2.36, 95% CI 1.75–3.17), bilateral resistance index anomalies (OR 2.83, 95% CI 1.27–6.32), unilateral notch (OR 3.66, 95% CI 2.03–6.62), bilateral notch (OR 5.80, 95% CI 3.30–10.20) were associated with pre‐eclampsia. For every 0.1 increase in the median multiple of mean pulsatile index, the risk of pre‐eclampsia increased by 13%; for every 0.1 increase in the median multiple of mean resistance index, the risk of pre‐eclampsia increased by 22%.
Conclusion
Multiples of the median for the pulsatile and resistance indices are an effective evaluation tool. Abnormal uterine artery ultrasound indices are strongly associated with the development of pre‐eclampsia.