Dopplerography of uteroplacental blood flow – registration of transplacental hemodynamics based on the Doppler effect. It is used for early diagnosis of pregnancy pathologies manifested by circulatory disorders in the “mother-placenta-fetus” system. Doppler ultrasound allows you to get a graphic image of the dynamics of blood flow through the vessels of the uterus and placenta. Indications are suspicion of hypoxia or other intrauterine pathology of the fetus, the presence of rhesus conflict, chronic diseases present in the pregnant woman, a complex obstetric history.
Indications
The examination is carried out on a planned basis for all pregnant women at the age of 30-34 weeks. If a pregnant woman belongs to the risk group according to the probability of complications (tendency to gestosis, the likelihood of fetal hypoxia and suspicion of intrauterine pathology, complicated obstetric history, chronic kidney and cardiovascular system pathologies, diabetes mellitus, collagenosis, rhesus conflict), dopplerometry is performed for the first time at a period of 20-24 weeks, in the future, the schedule of the study is calculated individually depending on the results obtained. At earlier stages, Dopplerography in the management of pregnancy does not allow to obtain a diagnostically significant result.
Diagnostic value
The essence of the method consists in measuring the frequency of ultrasound reflected by blood moving in the vessels and calculating the speed of movement based on the data obtained. A Dopplerogram is a graph of changes in blood velocity in dynamics (blood velocity curves). These curves are evaluated both from a quantitative point of view (the actual blood flow rate) and from a qualitative point of view (characteristic curve pattern, early dicrotic notch, reverse blood flow, high diastole, etc.).
Dopplerography during pregnancy includes analysis of the blood flow rate of the placenta vessels, umbilical cord and the main blood flow of the fetus. Specific hemodynamic disorders in pathologies of the placental system have common Dopplerographic signs and do not depend on the causes of pathology or fetal condition. And the assessment of the blood flow rate in the aorta, large arteries of the brain and internal organs of the fetus allows us to draw certain conclusions about the state of his health.
A significant aspect of Dopplerography is its timeliness in order to be able to assess changes in blood flow at the earliest possible stage, when it is still possible to restore normal hemodynamics and prevent pathologies of intrauterine development and fetal death.
