Intrauterine Deaths in High-Risk Pregnancies with Normal and Borderline Umbilical Artery Doppler Flow Velocity Waveforms (Research Article) (Report‪)‬

Objective. To investigate the use of a personal computer (PC)-based, continuous-wave Doppler device by a trained midwife at the fetal evaluation clinic at a tertiary hospital to assess flow velocity waveforms (FVWs) of the umbilical artery flow in referred women. Methods. Pregnant women referred for suspected poor fetal growth were evaluated from June 2002 through December 2004. The Umbiflow device (still prototype, developed by CSIR/MRC/Stellenbosch University), consisting of a Pentium 3 PC with an ultrasound transducer plugged into the USB port, was used to analyse the FVW of the umbilical artery. Pregnancies in which the resistance index (RI) was 75th percentile (P75) were not further evaluated for fetal well-being unless the clinical condition of the mother had changed. Pregnancies with an RI P75 were followed up according to a specific protocol. Primary endpoints were intrauterine death and intrauterine growth restriction.