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Updated: Aug 12, 2026
Fetal Mouse Cardiovascular Imaging Using a High-frequency Ultrasound (30/45MHZ) System
Published on: May 5, 2018
Longitudinal study of fetal middle cerebral artery flow velocity waveforms preceding fetal death
1Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Derriford Hospital, Plymouth, UK.
Objective:
To assess longitudinally fetal cerebral vasodilatation in small-for-gestational age fetuses to investigate whether intrauterine death might be predictable.
Design:
Prospective observational study.
Setting:
Ultrasound department in a university hospital.
Subjects:
Five pregnancies with ultrasonographically confirmed small fetuses (abdominal circumference less than the 3rd centile) monitored longitudinally until time of intrauterine death.
Main Outcome Measure:
Time between last ultrasound examination and diagnosis of intrauterine death, and variation in middle cerebral artery pulsitility index prior to death.
Results:
Two of the five fetuses showed a reversal of adaptation (as indicated by an elevation of the middle cerebral artery pulsitility index) within 48 hours of intrauterine death. The other three had their final ultrasound examination 3 to 7 days before death and showed no such reversal of adaptation.
Conclusion:
Reversal of adaptation in fetal hypoxaemia as indicated by a rise in the middle cerebral artery pulsitility index may be a predictor of intrauterine death within 48 hours. Whether delivery after reversal of adaptation would result in salvage of neurologically intact babies needs to be investigated.
