Role of Ultrasonography in Screening High Risk Mothers for Detection of IUGR

Introduction: The 10th percentile of expected foetal weight for gestational age is classified as intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) or foetal growth restriction. IUGR occurs for a variety of reasons. Any issue with the placenta is a major contributor. Aims and objectives: 1) To determine the role of ultrasonography in screening high risk mothers for detection of IUGR. 2) To find out the impact of fetal parameters on the extent of IUGR.3) For correlation between sonographic pattern of IUGR and the birth weight. 4) For correlation between doppler parameters and perinatal outcome. Materials and methods: This is a prospective study done over a period of 2 years in Mamata General Hospital (MGH) from Oct 2017 to Oct 2019. Study included 50 pregnant women with high risk factors and clinically suspected IUGR attending for ultrasound examination were subjected to Uterine, Umbilical and Middle cerebral artery Doppler along with morphology and biometry scan after fulfilling the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Results: Reverse, absence or slow end diastolic flow was considered abnormal which was seen in 33 patients. Nine patients had Absent /Reversed end diastolic flow of which, 3 patients had IUD, 4 had Still births, 2 were admitted in NICU with apgar at 1min <7. Middle cerebral artery was abnormal in 10 patients, of which 8 patients had IUGR babies with adverse perinatal outcome. MCA/UA S.D ratio, which was abnormal in 19 patients of which 16 patients had adverse perinatal outcome. Conclusion: Doppler has proven to be more sensitive than other methods of foetal monitoring in recognising fetal compromises early and assisting in the proper time of delivery. Keywords: Ultrasonography, doppler, IUGR.

Left ventricle diastolic dysfunction in idiopathic inflammatory myopathies: A meta-analysis and systematic review

ABSTRACT Objectives Recent studies have confirmed that heart failure is one of the most important causes of death in patients with idiopathic inflammatory myopathy (IIM). Left ventricle diastolic dysfunction (LVDD) is closely associated with heart failure. Our aim is to determine if the prevalence of LVDD is increased in IIM patients. Methods We performed a time- and language-restricted literature search to identify studies conducted to compare the echocardiographic parameters in IIM patients and controls. Mean differences were used to calculate the effect sizes of the echocardiographic parameters. Results A total of 13 studies met the inclusion criteria and comprised a total of 227 juvenile dermatomyositis (JDM) patients, 391 adult IIM patients, and 550 controls. The adult IIM patients had lower mitral annular early diastolic velocity (eʹ) and peak of early diastolic flow velocity/peak of late diastolic flow velocity (E/A) ratio compared to controls. The mean left atrial dimension and E/eʹ ratio was higher in adult IIM patients as compared to controls. Similarly, in JDM patients, the decreased eʹ was also observed. Conclusion Patients with IIM were more likely to have echocardiographic parameters indicative of diastolic dysfunction. The early heart assessments should be performed in IIM patients.

The possibility of clinical use for the oxidative stress marker in correlation with blood flow parameters in pregnancy-induced hypertension

Introduction: In pregnancy-induced hypertension (PIH) there is a disorder in placental blood flow which causes intrauterine fetal hypoxia, and oxidative stress has a significant role in this condition. The aims of this research were to analyze the relation of thiobarbituric acid reactive substance (TBARS), as a marker of oxidative stress and absent end-diastolic flow (AEDF), as well as the relation of TBARS and cerebroplacental ratio (CPR). Methods: The research included 200 pregnant women in the gestation period from 28th to 40th, 100 were in a control group and 100 were with PIH. The CPR and TBARS were analyzed in all examined pregnant women. The CPR was calculated by dividing the Doppler indices of the middle cerebral artery by the umbilical artery. Results: Mean value of TBARS in the group with the PIH who had AEDF was in the interval of high values - 43.22 μmol/l. The result shows that through the application of Spearman’s coefficient, the correlation results in a statistically significant correlation between CPR and TBARS values: ρ = - 0.249, p = 0.0001. Conclusion: PIH has a very high level of oxidative stress, especially in pregnant women with absent end-diastolic flow in the umbilical artery and pathologic CPR. The Spearman’s test results in statistical significance and negative correlation, which means that in higher TBARS values, values of CPR are lower and vice versa, which indicates a possibility of clinical application of TBARS.