Significance of uteroplacental Doppler at midtrimester in patients with favourable obstetric history

OBJECTIVE: To reassess the usefulness of midtrimester uterine Doppler in low-risk multiparous women. METHODS: We prospectively recruited low-risk pregnant women at 20-22 weeks attending our clinic. Among those, women with a favourable obstetric history (group A) were distinguished from nulliparous (group B) and of each group we measured uterine artery Doppler (pulsatility index (PI)). We evaluated the accuracy of uterine artery Doppler in the prediction of preeclampsia and small for gestational age (SGA) neonates. RESULTS: Between January 2009 and October 2010, 382 women were included in the study of which 147 in group A and 235 in group B. Overall, 26/382 (6.8%) women presented preeclampsia and SGA occurred in 59/382 (15.4%) cases. In our population, at a 10% false positive rate (FPR) uterine artery Doppler showed a detection rate (DR) of 19.2% for preeclampsia and of 37.3% for SGA, with a higher sensitivity for SGA neonates delivered ≤ vs. >34 weeks (87% vs. 29.4%). The univariable receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve by uterine artery PI yielded a significant prediction only for SGA in nulliparous women (areas under the curve (AUC) of 0.70; 95% CI 0.60-0.79). CONCLUSIONS: Our data confirmed that midtrimester uterine artery Doppler is not an efficient strategy in anticipating the risk of pregnancy complications among low-risk multiparous women.