Cerebroplacental ratio as predictor of adverse perinatal outcome in the third trimester

Middle cerebral artery to uterine artery pulsatility index ratios in pregnancy with fetal growth restriction regarding negative perinatal outcomes

Background/Aim: Fetal growth restriction (FGR) causes a high risk of perinatal morbidity and mortality, and the timing of the correct delivery time decision remains controversial. Cerebroplacental ratio (CPR), umbilical artery, uterine artery (UA) and middle cerebral artery (MCA) Doppler studies are used to predict adverse perinatal outcomes in FGR. However, since there is insufficient reliability for each separately and together, the search for new methods continues. This retrospective study was conducted to determine the degree of neonatal morbidity in fetuses suspected of having FGR by evaluating the MCA to UA pulsatility index (PI) ratios together with frequently used Doppler examinations. Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study conducted in a single-center hospital with the approval of the Medical Institutional Ethics Committee. A total of 424 pregnant women admitted to a tertiary hospital and diagnosed with FGR between July 2020 and December 2021 who were informed and approved were included in the study. Gestational age was confirmed by first trimester sonographic measurements of pregnancy. All pregnant women were examined by Doppler USG and umbilical artery, mean UA, fetal MCA, ductus venosus, CPR (MCA/umbilical artery pulsatility index ratio) and cerebrouterine ratio (MCA/UA) PI values were measured. Negative perinatal outcomes were recorded as blood gas level of the newborn at 7.2 and below, Apgar score of 7 and below at the fifth minute, and needing neonatal intensive care (NICU). Adverse perinatal and postnatal outcomes were recorded and compared with Doppler findings. If there were no signs of a negative perinatal outcome, it was considered a positive outcome. If at least one of the symptoms of adverse perinatal outcomes was present, it was considered a negative outcome Results: Decreased CPR and decreased MCA to UA PI were significantly and positively associated with an increased likelihood of exhibiting negative perinatal outcomes in pregnancies with FGR (P < 0.001, P < 0.001, respectively). The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis showed that the optimal cut-off value for MCA to uterine artery PI was 1.41 to predict FGR with 57.37% sensitivity and 62.50% specificity (AUC: 0.629; 95% CI: 0.581–0.675). When the CPR cut-off value was taken as 1.2069, the sensitivity was 42.86% and the specificity 83.93% in predicting negative perinatal outcomes in CPR values below this value (P < 0.001). Conclusion: CPR is the most successful criterion in distinguishing between positive and negative perinatal outcomes. It has been demonstrated that the MCA to uterine artery PI ratio values after CPR can also be used for this distinction. MCA to UA PI ratio sensitivity was higher than CPR and umbilical artery. This situation shows that MCA to uterine artery PI ratio (alone or when evaluated together with PPV and NPV ratios) is a criterion that can be added to other Doppler examinations in predicting negative perinatal outcomes.

The utility of foetal splenic artery Doppler measurement in the diagnosis of late-onset foetal growth restriction

We aimed to examine the contribution of splenic artery (SA) Doppler parameters in the detection of foetuses with late-onset foetal growth restriction (LO-FGR) and to evaluate its power in predicting adverse perinatal outcomes. Within the study's scope, 52 cases in the LO-FGR group and 92 cases in the control group were evaluated. The criteria determined in the Delphi procedure by an international consensus were used to define the LO-FGR. Middle cerebral artery (MCA) pulsatility index (PI) and SA PI were significantly lower in the LO-FGR group (p: .002, p<.001, respectively). Likewise, cerebroplacental ratio (CPR) was significantly lower in the LO-FGR group (p<.001). Decreased CPR and decreased SA PI were significantly and positively associated with an increased likelihood of exhibiting adverse obstetric outcome (p<.001, p: .012, respectively). The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis showed that the optimal cut-off value for SA PI was 1.41 to predict LO-FGR with 70.7% sensitivity and 61.5% specificity (AUC = 0.684; 95% CI, 0.594-0.774).Impact StatementWhat is already known on this subject? The main clinical difficulty in late-onset foetal growth restriction (LO-FGR) is the detection of the disease.What do the results of this study add? The splenic artery (SA) pulsatility index (PI) may contribute to both diagnostic and the prediction of adverse perinatal outcomes in LO-FGR cases. Our results showed that the SA PI value, as well as cerebroplacental ratio (CPR), can be a useful parameter in predicting negative outcomes.What are the implications of these findings for clinical practice and/or further research? Various degrees of uteroplacental insufficiency in foetuses with LO-FGR may be associated with abnormalities in SA Doppler velocimetry. Splenic artery Doppler velocimetry can be used for the clinical management of LO-FGR.

Cerebroplacental ratio as predictor of adverse perinatal outcome in the third trimester

Introduction

Fetal growth restriction is associated with adverse perinatal outcome and the clinical management of these pregnancies is a challenge. The aim of this study was to investigate the potential of cerebroplacental ratio (CPR) to predict adverse perinatal outcome in high‐risk pregnancies in the third trimester. Another aim was to study whether the CPR has better predictive value than its components, middle cerebral artery (MCA) pulsatility index (PI) and umbilical artery (UA) PI.

Material and methods

The study was a retrospective cohort study including 1573 singleton high‐risk pregnancies with Doppler examinations performed at 32⁺⁰ to 40⁺⁶ gestational weeks at Lund University Hospital and the University Hospital of Malmö between 29 December 1994 and 31 December 2017. Receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curves were used to investigate the predictive value of the gestational age‐specific z‐scores for CPR, UA PI and MCA PI, respectively, for the primary outcome “perinatal asphyxia/mortality” and the secondary outcomes “birthweight small for gestational age (SGA)” and two composite outcomes: “appropriate for gestational age/large for gestational age liveborn infants with neonatal morbidity” and “SGA liveborn infants with neonatal morbidity.”

Results

The performance in predicting perinatal asphyxia/mortality was poor for all three variables and did not differ significantly. The ROC area under curve (AUC) was 0.56, 0.55 and 0.53 for CPR, UA PI and MCA PI z‐scores, respectively. The ROC AUC for CPR z‐scores to predict SGA was 0.73, significantly higher than that for either UA PI or MCA PI (P < .001). The ability of CPR and the MCA PI to predict appropriate for gestational age/large for gestational age infant morbidity and SGA infant morbidity was similar and significantly better than UA PI (P < .001).

Conclusions

In the present study, none of the three Doppler measures proved to be useful in predicting perinatal asphyxia and mortality. CPR and MCA PI were equally good in predicting neonatal morbidity, especially in SGA pregnancies, and both were significantly better predictors than the UA PI. CPR had a high predictive value for SGA at birth, better than that of its two components, UA PI and MCA PI.