[Rheography in pregnancy--a noninvasive method of early detection of placental insufficiency]

Intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR) is a major obstetrical problem. About 20% of stillbirths are growth retarded. Increased vascular resistance is suspected to cause preeclampsia and IUGR. Our study used rheography 1. to show the change of vascular resistance during pregnancy, 2. to scrutinize any connections between maternal peripheral perfusion and the development of IUGR. For the first part of the study 168 healthy pregnant women of different gestational age were studied to examine the physiological conditions of peripheral haemoperfusion. In the second part we employed rheography in 177 cases of last trimester pregnancies. The parameter used was the rheographic quotient (RQ), defined as the volume of the pulse wave. To compare RQ values of patients with different heart frequencies these values were multiplied by the pulse rate per second (relative pulse volume, Pr).

1. RQ values remained nearly constant during the first trimester (0.7%). During the second trimester a noticeable increase in RQ was found, leading to RQ values of about 1.3% in the third trimester. From the 28th week until delivery no further significant changes occurred. Using Pr, our data showed increased values from the 16th gestational week onwards. Early-stage values (0.8%/sec) increased more than twofold (1.7%/sec) until delivery. 2. Out of 177 pregnancies, 26 led to newborn below the 10th percentile (mean = 2230 g). Rheographic data showed highly significant differences between the AGA and SGA groups: the mean RQ values of the AGA sample was 1.2 +/- 0.4%, of the SGA sample 0.6 +/- 0.35% (p less than 0.0001).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)