AbstractAim: To study the role of color Doppler ultrasonography in high risk pregnancy in predicting maternal outcome depending on gestational age at the time of delivery and mode of delivery. Material and Methods: 50 women with high risk pregnancies were diagnosed and recruited for the study. Doppler indices carried out to predict perinatal outcome like birth weight and comparison of the accuracy of various Doppler parameters were also done for maternal and perinatal outcome. APGAR score at 5 minutes calculated. Perinatal morbidity and mortality were recorded. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and diagnostic accuracy weredetermined for all Doppler measurements were also done. Results: In the present study group, 28(56%) of women were in the age group of 21 – 25 years. 20(40%) of women had PIH and 32(64%) had abnormal Doppler. In 32 women with abnormal Doppler, 28 (87.5%) had caesarean section and 4 (12.5%) had vaginal delivery. In abnormal doppler group out of 28 caesarean sections, 18 (64.2%) women had caesarean section for fetal distress. The mean birth weight of the babies born to women in the study group was 2.3kg. Out of 32 newborns in abnormal doppler group 12 (37.5%) newborns had APGAR <7 and 20 (62.5%) newborns had APGAR 7. Umbilical artery Doppler was found to have sensitivity 46.6%, specificity – 94%, PPV 93%, NPV 54%. Middle cerebral artery Doppler was found to have sensitivity 73.3%, specificity – 90%, PPV – 91.6%, NPV69.3%. CPR abnormality was found to have sensitivity 86.6%, specificity – 95%, PPV – 96.2%, NPV – 82.6%. Conclusion: The results of the present study supports the use of doppler study of both umbilical, middle cerebral arteries wave forms as a primary tool for antenatal surveillance in high risk pregnancies.
Keywords: APGAR Score; Maternal Outcome; Doppler Ultrasonography; High Risk Pregnancies.