Doppler Audio Signal Analysis as an Additional Tool in Evaluation of Umbilical Artery Circulation
Author
Summary, in English
Purpose: To investigate the predictive capacity of a new method for sound spectrum analysis of Doppler signals recorded from the umbilical artery in high-risk pregnancies. Material and Methods: The retrospective study comprised 127 pregnant women with various pregnancy complications between 23 and 39 gestational weeks. Umbilical artery blood flow velocity waveforms were recorded with Doppler ultrasound and characterized by pulsatility index (PI) and blood flow class (BFC). Doppler audio signals were stored on a digital video recorder and the sound frequency at the energy level 15 dB below its peak (MAXpeak-15 dB) was estimated off-line. The prediction of probability for composite adverse pregnancy outcome (operative delivery for fetal distress, admission to neonatal intensive care unit, perinatal death) was evaluated using the area under the curve (AUC) of the receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve. Results: With increasing umbilical artery BFC, the MAXpeak-15 dB frequencies decreased (p < 0.0001) and the PI increased (p < 0.0001). The ROC AUCs for adverse outcome for MAXpeak-15 dB and for PI were 0.842 and 0.836 (p = 0.88), respectively. For the combination of MAXpeak-15 dB and PI, the corresponding AUC was 0.894, significantly higher than that of PI (p < 0.03) and of MAXpeak-15 dB (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Umbilical artery Doppler sound spectrum analysis might be a useful supplement to PI in the clinical evaluation of fetoplacental circulation.
Department/s
Publishing year
2017-10-01
Language
English
Pages
549-555
Publication/Series
Ultraschall in der Medizin
Volume
38
Issue
5
Document type
Journal article
Publisher
Georg Thieme Verlag
Topic
- Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Medical Imaging
- Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Medicine
Keywords
- blood velocity waveform
- doppler audio signal
- pregnancy
- ultrasound Doppler
- umbilical artery
Status
Published
Research group
- Environmental Epidemiology
ISBN/ISSN/Other
- ISSN: 1438-8782