Determining local reference ranges of uterine and umbilical doppler indices in healthy singleton gestation Kenyan women in second and third trimesters.

Abstract

Background Uterine and Umbilical artery Doppler ultrasound is a safe and an important tool in assessing fetal well-being thus predicting normal and abnormal indices during pregnancy. Objectives To evaluate the uterine and umbilical artery Resistive and pulsatility indices in healthy singleton Kenyan women and determine the local reference ranges. . Methodology This was a prospective longitudinal study that included 202 singleton pregnant mothers done at Kenyatta National Hospital Radiology department and Antenatal Clinic. Using Bmode,colour and pulsed Doppler ultrasound the RI and PI for both uterine and umbilical arteries were obtained during the second trimester (21-25 weeks) after which the patients in the study who did not develop any of the exclusion criteria were scanned again in the third trimester(31-35 weeks). All scans were done independently by the Principal investigator and certified by a qualified radiologist at each visit. Data collection forms were used to record the mentioned parameters at every ultrasound session and Independent Student’s T-test done on the mean RI and PI values using SPSS( Version 21).A comparison was made to other similar studies worldwide Results The mean of the normal uterine and umbilical artery values were similar to most published reference values from other parts of the world. No correlation between these indices and maternal parameters were found in this study. Conclusion Uterine and umbilical artery Doppler indices among normal singleton Kenyan women are similar to those of the developed world, therefore using reference values from those studies may be used in our environment. Future research with a more extensive longitudinal study and shorter scan intervals may be required to provide data covering all GAs and to validate the preliminary findings from this report.