Ophthalmic artery Doppler and biomarkers of impaired placentation at 36 weeks' gestation in pregnancies with small fetuses

© 2023 International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology..

OBJECTIVES: First, to compare ophthalmic artery peak systolic velocity (PSV) ratio and biomarkers of impaired placentation at 36 weeks' gestation in women who delivered a small-for-gestational-age (SGA) or growth-restricted (FGR) neonate, in the absence of hypertensive disorder, with those of women who developed pre-eclampsia (PE) or gestational hypertension (GH) and of women unaffected by SGA, FGR, PE or GH. Second, to examine the associations of PSV ratio, uterine artery pulsatility index (UtA-PI), placental growth factor (PlGF) and soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase-1 (sFlt-1) with birth-weight Z-score or percentile.

METHODS: This was a prospective observational study of women with a singleton pregnancy attending for a routine hospital visit at 35 + 0 to 36 + 6 weeks' gestation. This visit included recording of maternal demographic characteristics and medical history, ultrasound examination of fetal anatomy and growth, and measurement of maternal ophthalmic artery PSV ratio, UtA-PI, PlGF and sFlt-1. Values of PSV ratio, UtA-PI, PlGF and sFlt-1 were converted to multiples of the median (MoM) or delta values. Median MoM or deltas of these biomarkers in the SGA, FGR, PE and GH groups were compared with those in the unaffected group. Regression analysis was used to examine the relationship of PSV ratio delta, UtA-PI MoM, PlGF MoM and sFlt-1 MoM with birth-weight Z-score, after exclusion of PE and GH cases.

RESULTS: The study population of 9033 pregnancies included 7696 (85.2%) that were not affected by FGR, SGA, PE or GH, 182 (2.0%) complicated by FGR in the absence of PE or GH, 698 (7.7%) with SGA in the absence of FGR, PE or GH, 236 (2.6%) with PE and 221 (2.4%) with GH. Compared with unaffected pregnancies, in the FGR and SGA groups, the PSV ratio delta and sFlt-1 MoM were increased and PlGF MoM was decreased; UtA-PI MoM was increased in the FGR group but not the SGA group. The magnitude of the changes in biomarker values relative to the unaffected group was smaller in the FGR and SGA groups than that in the PE and GH groups. In non-hypertensive pregnancies, there were significant inverse associations of PSV ratio delta and UtA-PI MoM with birth-weight Z-score, such that the values were increased in small babies and decreased in large babies. There was a quadratic relationship between PlGF MoM and birth-weight Z-score, with low PlGF levels in small babies and high PlGF levels in large babies. There was no significant association between sFlt-1 MoM and birth-weight Z-score.

CONCLUSIONS: Ophthalmic artery PSV ratio, reflective of peripheral vascular resistance, and UtA-PI, PlGF and sFlt-1, biomarkers of impaired placentation, are altered in pregnancies complicated by hypertensive disorder and, to a lesser extent, in non-hypertensive pregnancies delivering a SGA or FGR neonate. The associations between the biomarkers and birth-weight Z-score suggest the presence of a continuous physiological relationship between fetal size and peripheral vascular resistance and placentation, rather than a dichotomous relationship of high peripheral resistance and impaired placentation in small compared to non-small fetuses. © 2023 International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Medienart:

E-Artikel

Erscheinungsjahr:

2024

Erschienen:

2024

Enthalten in:

Zur Gesamtaufnahme - volume:63

Enthalten in:

Ultrasound in obstetrics & gynecology : the official journal of the International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology - 63(2024), 3 vom: 24. März, Seite 358-364

Sprache:

Englisch

Beteiligte Personen:

Arechvo, A [VerfasserIn]
Wright, A [VerfasserIn]
Nobile Recalde, A [VerfasserIn]
Liandro, R [VerfasserIn]
Charakida, M [VerfasserIn]
Nicolaides, K H [VerfasserIn]

Links:

Volltext

Themen:

144589-93-5
Angiogenic factor
Antiangiogenic factor
Biomarkers
Fetal growth restriction
Gestational hypertension
Journal Article
Observational Study
Placenta Growth Factor
Placental growth factor
Pre-eclampsia
Small-for-gestational age
Soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase-1
Third-trimester screening
Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A

Anmerkungen:

Date Completed 04.03.2024

Date Revised 05.04.2024

published: Print-Electronic

Citation Status MEDLINE

doi:

10.1002/uog.27521

funding:

Förderinstitution / Projekttitel:

PPN (Katalog-ID):

NLM36394737X