TY - JOUR
T1 - Velocity Time Integral
T2 - A Novel Method for Assessing Fetal Anemia
AU - Piura, Ettie
AU - Engel, Offra
AU - Doctory, Neta
AU - Arbib, Nisim
AU - Biron-Shental, Tal
AU - Kovo, Michal
AU - Arnon, Shmuel
AU - Markovitch, Ofer
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 by the authors.
PY - 2023/7
Y1 - 2023/7
N2 - The velocity time integral (VTI) is a clinical Doppler ultrasound measurement of blood flow, measured by the area under the wave curve and equivalent to the distance traveled by the blood. This retrospective study assessed the middle cerebral artery (MCA) VTI of fetuses in pregnancies complicated by maternal alloimmunization. Doppler indices of the MCA were retrieved from electronic medical records. Systolic deceleration-diastolic time, systolic acceleration time, VTI, and peak systolic velocity (PSV) were measured at 16–40 weeks gestation. Cases with PSV indicating fetal anemia (cutoff 1.5 MoM) and normal PSV were compared. The study included 255 Doppler ultrasound examinations. Of these, 41 were at 16–24 weeks (group A), 100 were at 25–32 weeks (group B), and 114 were at 33–40 weeks (group C). VTI increased throughout gestation (5.5 cm, 8.6 cm, and 12.1 cm in groups A, B, and C, respectively, p = 0.003). VTI was higher in waveforms calculated to have MCA-PSV ≥ 1.5 MoM compared to those with MCA-PSV < 1.5 MoM (9.1 cm vs. 14.1 cm, respectively, p < 0.001), as was VTI/s (22.04 cm/s vs. 33.75 cm/s, respectively; p < 0.001). The results indicate that the MCA VTI increases significantly among fetuses with suspected anemia, indicating higher perfusion of hemodiluted blood to the brain. This feasible measurement might provide a novel additional marker for the development of fetal anemia.
AB - The velocity time integral (VTI) is a clinical Doppler ultrasound measurement of blood flow, measured by the area under the wave curve and equivalent to the distance traveled by the blood. This retrospective study assessed the middle cerebral artery (MCA) VTI of fetuses in pregnancies complicated by maternal alloimmunization. Doppler indices of the MCA were retrieved from electronic medical records. Systolic deceleration-diastolic time, systolic acceleration time, VTI, and peak systolic velocity (PSV) were measured at 16–40 weeks gestation. Cases with PSV indicating fetal anemia (cutoff 1.5 MoM) and normal PSV were compared. The study included 255 Doppler ultrasound examinations. Of these, 41 were at 16–24 weeks (group A), 100 were at 25–32 weeks (group B), and 114 were at 33–40 weeks (group C). VTI increased throughout gestation (5.5 cm, 8.6 cm, and 12.1 cm in groups A, B, and C, respectively, p = 0.003). VTI was higher in waveforms calculated to have MCA-PSV ≥ 1.5 MoM compared to those with MCA-PSV < 1.5 MoM (9.1 cm vs. 14.1 cm, respectively, p < 0.001), as was VTI/s (22.04 cm/s vs. 33.75 cm/s, respectively; p < 0.001). The results indicate that the MCA VTI increases significantly among fetuses with suspected anemia, indicating higher perfusion of hemodiluted blood to the brain. This feasible measurement might provide a novel additional marker for the development of fetal anemia.
KW - Doppler
KW - fetal anemia
KW - middle cerebral artery
KW - peak systolic velocity
KW - stroke distance
KW - umbilical artery
KW - velocity time integral
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85166302064&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3390/children10071090
DO - 10.3390/children10071090
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C2 - 37508587
AN - SCOPUS:85166302064
SN - 2227-9067
VL - 10
JO - Children
JF - Children
IS - 7
M1 - 1090
ER -
