Doppler study in the management of intrauterine growth retardation

: Forty-four pregnancies with clinical and sonographic diagnosis of intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR) were prospectively studied. A Doppler examination of arcuate and umbilical arteries, fetal descending aorta and medial cerebral artery was done. The results of the Doppler interrogation determined three groups. The first with normal Doppler had the higher birth weight the lesser ponderal deficit and the lesser percent of newborns below the fifth centile. No morbimortality was found in this group. The second group with a mild abnormal Doppler, had a morbidity of 18.8%, and no mortality was found. The third group had the most abnormal Doppler and, showed a perinatal morbidity rate of 28.6% and mortality 42.9%. In our series, the Doppler examination was able to identify among the pregnancies with clinical and sonographic diagnosis of IUGR those with the highest risk of morbimortality (sensibility 100%, specificity 77.8%, positive examination predictive value 50% and negative examination predictive value 100%).