The Uterine Artery Doppler's Diagnostic Accuracy in the Second Trimester for Preeclampsia Screening

Abstract

Background: Hypertension during pregnancy occurs in 7-10% of pregnancies. It is divided into 3 types: Chronic hypertension, pregnancy-induced hypertension, and Pre-eclampsia. It is a multisystem syndrome usually recognized by new-onset hypertension with proteinuria appearing in 2nd half of pregnancy. The incidence of preeclampsia is 5 to 7% of all pregnancies.

Objective: To determine the diagnostic accuracy of uterine artery Doppler (UAD) for preeclampsia screening in the second trimester.

Study type, settings & duration: A cross-sectional and observational study was conducted at Hameed Latif Hospital, Lahore from January to June 2023.  

Methodology: The non-probability purposive sampling technique was used in this study. Patients were into two groups; Group A: Pre-eclampsia (n=40) and Group B: Non-Pre-eclampsia (n=85). The sample size of 125 was calculated by G-Power software. Data was collected through pre-structured proforma and entered in SPSS version 25.0.

Results: The 28 (70%) patients had positive UAD. They developed pre-eclampsia and 12 (30%) patients had negative but also developed pre-eclampsia (group A). In comparison, 15 (17.6%) patients had positive UAD but had not developed pre-eclampsia and 70 (82.4%) patients had negative UAD and had not developed pre-eclampsia.  UAD and pre-eclampsia had a significant association with the p-value of 0.00*. Pre-eclampsia screening had a 15.5% margin of error, a 25% anticipated proportion of pre-eclampsia, a 75% UAD sensitivity, and an 86% specificity.

Conclusion: Doppler USG is accurate enough that in the future we can rely on this tool for the prediction of PE in primigravidas. So, to detect preeclampsia early...........