ABNORMAL UMBILICAL ARTERY WAVEFORMS

- RANDOMIZED STUDIES

A recent meta-analysis of most of the twenty published studies conclude:

• 30% reduction in the perinatal mortality associated with the use of Doppler ultrasound.
• Odds ratio = 0.70.
• Relative risk reduction = 18.4%.
• Absolute risk reduction = 0.6%.

The evidence from these studies appears to be strong enough to recommend Doppler studies of the umbilical artery to women with high-risk pregnancies. Doppler of the umbilical arteries does assist in the identification of the compromised in utero, and decreases perinatal mortality through timed earlier delivery.

REFERENCES

1. Neilson JP, Alfirevic Z. Doppler ultrasound in high risk pregnancies. In: Pregnancy and childbirth module. Enkin MW, Keirse MJNC, Renfew M et al. (ed). In "Cochrane Database of Systemic Reviews". BMJ Publishing Group 1995;Issue 2.