Maternal ophthalmic artery doppler velocimetry in type 1 diabetes during pregnancy

T Hata1, T Yanagihara, H Tanaka

  • 1Department of Perinatology, Kagawa Medical University, 1750-1 Ikenobe, Miki, Kagawa 761-0793, Japan.

Our purpose was to evaluate whether maternal ophthalmic artery pulsatility index (PI) in normotensive pregnancies with type 1 diabetes is different from that in normal normotensive pregnancies. The ophthalmic artery in 15 normal normotensive pregnant women, and 13 normotensive pregnant women with type 1 diabetes was studied once with colour Doppler flow imaging and pulsed Doppler ultrasonography after 16 weeks gestation. The heart rate, mean arterial blood pressure, and ophthalmic artery PI were calculated in each group. The PI (1.94 +/- 0.45) in normotensive pregnant women with type 1 diabetes was significantly lower than that (2.73 +/- 0.32) in normal normotensive pregnant women (P < 0.0001). There was no significant difference in maternal heart rate or mean arterial blood pressure between the two groups. These results suggest that vascular resistance in the maternal orbital circulation is reduced in pregnancies with type 1 diabetes that are normotensive. The lower PI in pregnant women with type 1 diabetes should be interpreted as orbital vascular vasodilatation, indicating orbital hyperperfusion or hyperaemia.

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