Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 2, 2026
Fetal Echocardiography and Pulsed-wave Doppler Ultrasound in a Rabbit Model of Intrauterine Growth Restriction
Published on: June 29, 2013
Umbilical artery velocity waveforms before and after chorionic villus sampling
1Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Università degli Studi di Cagliari, Ospedale Regionale per le Microcitemie, Sardinia, Italy.
Because a vascular aetiology has been suggested for the limb and oromandibular defects described after chorionic villus sampling (CVS), to determine whether transabdominal (TA) CVS causes noticeable changes in umbilical artery velocity waveforms in first-trimester pregnancies, the pulsatility index (PI) of the umbilical artery was evaluated before and after TA-CVS in 175 pregnancies sampled between 10.0 and 13.0 weeks' gestation. In 139 uncomplicated pregnancies, the mean PI values (with 95 per cent confidence interval) were before TA-CVS 2.751 (2.692-2.809), after 10 min 2.723 (2.697-2.809), and after 1 h 2.781 (2.722-2.840). There were no significant changes in PI relative to the CVS procedure either in pregnancies with an abnormal result or in those ending in spontaneous abortion. Our data do not support any statistically significant change in umbilical artery PI relative to TA-CVS in first-trimester pregnancies. This procedure, despite its invasive character, does not appear to affect the feto-placental circulation.
Because a vascular aetiology has been suggested for the limb and oromandibular defects described after chorionic villus sampling (CVS), to determine whether transabdominal (TA) CVS causes noticeable changes in umbilical artery velocity waveforms in first-trimester pregnancies, the pulsatility index (PI) of the umbilical artery was evaluated before and after TA-CVS in 175 pregnancies sampled between 10.0 and 13.0 weeks' gestation. In 139 uncomplicated pregnancies, the mean PI values (with 95 per cent confidence interval) were before TA-CVS 2.751 (2.692-2.809), after 10 min 2.723 (2.697-2.809), and after 1 h 2.781 (2.722-2.840). There were no significant changes in PI relative to the CVS procedure either in pregnancies with an abnormal result or in those ending in spontaneous abortion. Our data do not support any statistically significant change in umbilical artery PI relative to TA-CVS in first-trimester pregnancies. This procedure, despite its invasive character, does not appear to affect the feto-placental circulation.
