Use of uterine Doppler in an Australian level II maternity hospital

To evaluate the clinical usefulness of uterine Doppler.

Retrospective study between March 2001 and March 2003.

A high-risk population of pregnant women in a busy level II Maternity unit.

Resistance index (RI) measurements of the right and left uterine artery were obtained by using pulsed wave Colour Doppler. The presence of a unilateral or bilateral early diastolic notch was noted. An abnormal result was defined as a mean RI >or= 0.58 with no, one or two notches or a mean RI < 0.58 in the presence of bilateral notches.

Pre-eclampsia was found in 45 (24.7%) women, gestational hypertension (GH) in 22 (12.1%) and intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) in 42 (23.1%) of women included (total 59.9%). In the overall group, 127 (69.8%) women were found to have abnormal uterine artery Doppler results and 55 (30.2%) of patients had a normal Doppler study. No significant differences were found between the group of women with abnormal uterine artery Doppler and the women with a normal velocity waveform in the prediction of pre-eclampsia, IUGR and GH, this was also true in the various high-risk-subgroups.

Uterine Doppler is not particularly useful to the obstetrician in the management of patients with an a priori very high risk to develop uteroplacental insufficiency.