Ductus venosus revisited: A Doppler blood flow evaluation in the first trimester of pregnancy

1997 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 171-176 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nuno Montenegro ◽  
Alexandra Matias ◽  
JoséCarlos Areias ◽  
Henrique Barros
Author(s):  
Renaldo Faber ◽  
Kai-Sven Heling ◽  
Horst Steiner ◽  
Ulrich Gembruch

AbstractThis second part on Doppler sonography in prenatal medicine and obstetrics reviews its clinical applications. While this has not become the initially anticipated screening tool, it is used for the diagnosis and surveillance of a variety of fetal pathologies. For example, the sonography-based determination of uterine artery blood flow indices is an important parameter for the first trimester multimodal preeclampsia risk assessment, increasing accuracy and providing indication for the prophylactic treatment with aspirin. It also has significant implications for the diagnosis and surveillance of growth-restricted fetuses in the second and third trimesters through Doppler-sonographic analysis of umbilical artery, middle cerebral artery and ductus venosus. Here, especially the hemodynamics of the ductus venosus provides a critical criterium for birth management of severe, early-onset FGR before 34 + 0 weeks of gestation. Further, determination of maximum blood flow velocity of the middle cerebral artery is a central parameter in fetal diagnosis of anemia which has been significantly improved by this analysis. However, it is important to note that the mentioned improvements can only be achieved through highest methodological quality. Importantly, all these analyses are also applied to twins and higher order multiples. Here, for the differential diagnosis of specific complications such as TTTS, TAPS and TRAP, the application of Doppler sonography has become indispensable. To conclude, the successful application of Doppler sonography requires both exact methodology and precise pathophysiological interpretation of the data.


2006 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
pp. 552-552
Author(s):  
C. G. V. Murta ◽  
R. F. Bruns ◽  
P. S. Cossi ◽  
E. Cordioli ◽  
L. C. S. Bussamra ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Nuno Montenegro ◽  
Alexandra Matias

ABSTRACT Ductus venosus (DV) is a tiny vessel with a central role in fetal circulation both in singletons and multiples. In the present review we detail the contribution of DV evaluation in twin pregnancies in the first trimeter of pregnancy. The higher prevalence of abnormal A-wave in fetuses with abnormal karyotype and/or cardiac defects made DV evaluation a useful marker for the screening of chromosomal abnormalities and fetal cardiac anomalies. In dichorionic (DC) pregnancies, DV blood flow assessment reproduces the role of NT in the screening for aneuploidies, just as in singleton pregnancies. In monochorionic (MC) twin pregnancies, the Doppler assessment of DV blood flow improves the detection of those at higher risk of developing twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome or growth discrepancy later in pregnancy. As for singletons, DV should be systematically evaluated in all first trimester scans for a more performant screening in multiples. How to cite this article Matias A, Montenegro N. Improving our Knowledge in Twins: The Role of Ductus Venosus in the First Trimester. Donald School J Ultrasound Obstet Gynecol 2013;7(4):409-414.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document