[A comparative study of pulsed Doppler versus continuous Doppler technic without spectral analysis in obstetrics]

We conducted a study in 48 parturients in order to: --assess the possibilities of continuous Doppler examination without preliminary ultrasonographic localization and without spectral analysis, to measure the traditional hemodynamic parameters of fetal development (in particular on the umbilical cord). --to compare these results with those obtained using pulsed Doppler-scan as reference. The protocol was very strict and neither of the two practitioners was aware of the other practitioner's results. With the continuous Doppler examination, the uterine arteries were systematically localized and recorded. The technique is simple in trained hands. The material included an ultrasonograph fitted with two probes (3.5 and 5 MHz, equipped with a pulsed Doppler) and a continuous Doppler (only the 4 MHz probe was used). Because the tests were sometimes repeated, 63 measurements were obtained in 48 parturients, mean age was 29.3 years and mean gestational age was 32.9 weeks. The reason for the examination varied: intrauterine growth retardation and/or maternal hypertension, diabetes, etc. The results obtained from the cord proved to be very encouraging: 42 of the 54 measurements were comparable (77.7%) showed an index difference less than or equal to 0.05. Only 4 (7.4% of the measurements) maximum deviations were observed (exceeding 0.10). The mean Pourcelot index on the Doppler scan was 0.677. With the continuous Doppler, it was 0.676. The 13 abnormal measurements with the pulsed Doppler were also abnormal with the continuous Doppler. The uterine arteries were recorded and measured with the continuous Doppler 42 times on the right (68.8% of the cases) and 34 times on the left (55.7%).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)