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- Akhter, Tansim, 1967-, et al.
(author)
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Thicknesses of individual layers of artery wall indicate increased cardiovascular risk in severe pre-eclampsia
- 2014
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In: Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 0960-7692 .- 1469-0705. ; 43:6, s. 675-680
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- OBJECTIVE: Pre-eclampsia, especially severe pre-eclampsia, is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease later in life. However, ultrasound assessments of the common carotid artery intima-media thickness (CCA-IMT) do not convincingly demonstrate this. The aim of this study was to assess whether the individual thickness of the CCA intima and media layers and calculation of intima/media ratio (I/M) indicate an increased cardiovascular risk in women with previous severe pre-eclampsia.METHODS: The thicknesses of the CCA intima and media layers were obtained by non-invasive high-frequency ultrasound (22 MHz) in 42 women with previous severe pre-eclampsia and 44 women with previous normal pregnancies. A thick intima, thin media and high I/M are signs of a less healthy artery wall.RESULTS: Women with previous severe pre-eclampsia had a thicker CCA intima and a higher I/M than women with previous normal pregnancies, also after adjustment for mean arterial pressure, body mass index and CCA-IMT (all p < 0.0001). CCA-IMT did not differ significantly between the groups. In receiver operating characteristic curve analysis, intima thickness and I/M clearly discriminated between women with and without previous pre-eclampsia (c value about 0.95), whereas CCA-IMT did not (c = 0.52).CONCLUSIONS: Estimation of the individual CCA intima and media layers using high-frequency ultrasound and calculation of the I/M clearly demonstrated the well known increased cardiovascular risk in women with pre-eclampsia, whereas CCA-IMT did not. This method appears preferable to measuring CCA-IMT for imaging arterial effects and the increased cardiovascular risk in women with previous severe pre-eclampsia.
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- Ameye, L., et al.
(author)
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Clinically oriented three-step strategy for assessment of adnexal pathology
- 2012
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In: Ultrasound in Obstetrics & Gynecology. - : Wiley. - 1469-0705 .- 0960-7692. ; 40:5, s. 582-591
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Objective To determine the diagnostic performance of ultrasound-based simple rules, risk of malignancy index (RMI), two logistic regression models (LR1 and LR2) and real-time subjective assessment by experienced ultrasound examiners following the exclusion of masses likely to be judged as easy and 'instant' to diagnose by an ultrasound examiner, and to develop a new strategy for the assessment of adnexal pathology based on this. Methods 3511 patients with at least one persistent adnexal mass preoperatively underwent transvaginal ultrasonography to assess tumor morphology and vascularity. They were included in two consecutive prospective studies by the International Ovarian Tumor Analysis (IOTA) group: Phase 1 (1999-2005), development of the simple rules and logistic regression models LR1 and LR2, and Phase 2, a validation study (2005-2007). Results Almost half of the cases (43%) were identified as 'instant' to diagnose on the basis of descriptors applied to the database. To assess diagnostic performance in the more difficult 'non-instant' masses, we used only Phase 2 data (n = 1036). The sensitivity of LR2 was 88%, of RMI it was 41% and of subjective assessment it was 87%. The specificity of LR2 was 67%, of RMI it was 90% and of subjective assessment it was 86%. The simple rules yielded a conclusive result in almost 2/3 of the masses, where they resulted in sensitivity and specificity similar to those of real-time subjective assessment by experienced ultrasound examiners: sensitivity 89 vs 89% (P = 0.76), specificity 91 vs 91% (P = 0.65). When a three-step strategy was appliedwith easy 'instant' diagnoses as Step 1, simple rules where conclusive as Step 2 and subjective assessment by an experienced ultrasound examiner in the remaining masses as Step 3, we obtained a sensitivity of 92% and specificity of 92% compared with sensitivity 90% (P = 0.03) and specificity 93% (P = 0.44) when using real-time subjective assessment by experts in all tumors. Conclusion A diagnostic strategy using simple descriptors and ultrasound rules when applied to the variables contained in the IOTA database obtains results that are at least as good as those obtained by subjective assessment of a mass by an expert. Copyright. (C) 2012 ISUOG. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
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- Bjarnegård, Niclas, et al.
(author)
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Cardiovascular function in adulthood following intrauterine growth restriction with abnormal fetal blood flow
- 2013
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In: Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology. - : Wiley-Blackwell. - 0960-7692 .- 1469-0705. ; 41:2, s. 177-184
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Objectives To examine whether intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) is associated with increased cardiovascular risk later in life. Methods We examined 19 young adults (aged 2225 years) who were born at term after IUGR, along with 18 controls. All had been examined previously with fetal Doppler, and in the present follow-up with echocardiography, carotid echo-tracking ultrasound, applanation tonometry, blood pressure and laser Doppler, in order to characterize their cardiac and vascular geometry and/or function. Results The diameter of the ascending aorta and the left ventricular diameter were smaller in the IUGR group, but only ascending aortic diameter remained significantly smaller after adjustment for body surface area (Pandlt;0.05). The aortic pressure augmentation index was higher in the IUGR group (Pandlt;0.05). The common carotid artery diameter, intimamedia thickness and distensibility as well as left ventricular mass and function were similar in the two groups. IUGR status was found to be an independent predictor of ascending aortic diameter. Conclusions IUGR due to placental dysfunction seems to contribute to the higher systolic blood pressure augmentation and the smaller aortic dimensions that are observed in adults more than 20 years later, with possible negative consequences for future left ventricular performance due to increased aortic impedance.
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- Bonnefoy, C, et al.
(author)
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Prenatal diagnosis of lobar bronchial atresia
- 2011
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In: Ultrasound in obstetrics & gynecology : the official journal of the International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology. - 1469-0705. ; 37:1, s. 110-112
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)
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- Daemen, A., et al.
(author)
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Improving the preoperative classification of adnexal masses as benign or malignant by second-stage tests
- 2011
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In: Ultrasound in Obstetrics & Gynecology. - : Wiley. - 1469-0705 .- 0960-7692. ; 37:1, s. 100-106
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Objective The aim of this study was to establish when a second-stage diagnostic test may be of value in cases where a primary diagnostic test has given an uncertain diagnosis of the benign or malignant nature of an adnexal mass. Methods The diagnostic performance with regard to discrimination between benign and malignant adnexal masses for mathematical models including ultrasound variables and for subjective evaluation of ultrasound findings by an experienced ultrasound examiner was expressed as area under the receiver-operating characteristics curve (AUC), sensitivity and specificity. These were calculated for the total study population of 1938 patients with an adnexal mass as well as for sub-populations defined by the certainty with which the diagnosis of benignity or malignancy was made. The effect of applying a second-stage test to the tumors where risk estimation was uncertain was determined. Results The best mathematical model (LR1) had an AUC of 0.95, sensitivity of 92% and specificity of 84% when applied to all tumors. When model LR1 was applied to the 10% of tumors in which the calculated risk fell closest to the risk cut-off of the model, the AUC was 0.59, sensitivity 90% and specificity 21%. A strategy where subjective evaluation was used to classify these 10% of tumors for which LR1 performed poorly and where LR1 was used in the other 90% of tumors resulted in a sensitivity of 91% and specificity of 90%. Applying subjective evaluation to all tumors yielded an AUC of 0.95, sensitivity of 90% and specificity of 93%. Sensitivity was 81% and specificity 47% for those patients where the ultrasound examiner was uncertain about the diagnosis (n = 115; 5.9%). No mathematical model performed better than did subjective evaluation among the 115 tumors where the ultrasound examiner was uncertain. Conclusion When model LR1 is used as a primary test for discriminating between benign and malignant adnexal masses, the use of subjective evaluation of ultrasound findings by an experienced examiner as a second-stage test in the 10% of cases for which the model yields a risk of malignancy closest to its risk cut-off will improve specificity without substantially decreasing sensitivity. However, none of the models tested proved suitable as a second-stage test in tumors where subjective evaluation yielded an uncertain result. Copyright (C) 2010 ISUOG. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
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- Dahlbäck, Charlotte, et al.
(author)
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Abnormal ductus venosus pulsatility index in the absence of concurrent umbilical venous pulsations does not indicate worsening fetal condition.
- 2013
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In: Ultrasound in Obstetrics & Gynecology. - : Wiley. - 1469-0705 .- 0960-7692. ; 42:3, s. 322-328
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- OBJECTIVE: Recordings of blood flow velocity waveform in the ductus venosus (DV) and the umbilical vein (UV) are routinely used in order to predict the fetal condition in high-risk pregnancies. This study investigates the relationship between pathological blood flow in the two vessels and perinatal outcome. METHODS: High-risk pregnancies (n=11865) admitted during 1993-2011 for blood flow examinations, including recordings of DV pulsatility index for veins (PIV) and UV pulsations, were included. The results were related to perinatal outcome, using the last Doppler examination prior to delivery in analysis. RESULTS: Abnormal DV PIV was observed in 3,96%, intra-abdominal UV-pulsations in 1,3% and pulsations in the cord in 0,7% of the cases. As expected, the rate of UV-pulsations increased with increasing DV PIV z-score. Fetuses with a pathological DV PIV, but without UV pulsations showed no signs of compromise. This was also true for cases with a DV PIV >4 SD above the mean (53.7 % had a steady flow in the UV). In contrast, the occurrence of UV-pulsations seems to be an indicator of fetal compromise regardless of level of DV PIV. CONCLUSIONS: Abnormal fetal venous blood velocity is related to adverse outcome of high-risk pregnancies. However, abnormal DV PIV is not an indicator of fetal compromise unless UV-pulsations are concurrently present and should be regarded as an artifact and not an indication for emergency delivery.
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