Clinical value of fetal flow measurements with pulsed Doppler ultrasound

: 326 fetal flow-measurements with Doppler ultrasound were carried out in the umbilical arteries and fetal aortas of 236 newborn babies. The pulsatility index and the resistance index were used for the flowprofile analysis. The dystrophy rate and the rate of serious perinatological problems of newborn babies with pathological flow (n = 26) are compared with those of newborn babies with a normal flow. It appears that in the group with pathological flowindices, the dystrophy rate is 7.8 times and the morbidity rate 17 times higher. Most important, however, was the fact that all endangered SGA fetuses were diagnosed with flowmeasurements while SGA fetuses with a normal flow had no perinatological problems at all. Enddiastolic flow reductions, based on an increased placental resistance, are provable relatively early, whereas a beginning centralization of the fetal circulation is only recognizable in a closer temporal connection with the fetal imperilment on account of pathological flowprofiles.