Value of middle cerebral artery and umbilical artery Doppler indices in preeclamptic patients and their correlation with outcomes

Background and aim Preeclampsia is an important factor contributing to prenatal prematurity, intrauterine growth retardation, and the death of mothers. It is clinically evident after 20 weeks of gestation and impacts ∼5–10% of pregnancies. This study aimed to compare middle cerebral artery (MCA) and umbilical artery (UA) Doppler indices in preeclampsia patients versus normotensive pregnant ladies and to correlate the effect of MCA and UA Doppler indices with outcomes intrauterine growth retardation, perinatal death, and prematurity. Patients and methods This prospective case–control study was conducted on 100 cases divided into two groups: 50 women who have the diagnosis of preeclampsia according to recent guidelines of the International Society for the Investigation of Hypertension in Pregnancy and 50 normotensive pregnant ladies as a control group in Al-Azhar University Hospital in a period starting from July 2021 to July 2023. Results The best diagnostic accuracy for the prediction of adverse outcomes of preeclampsia was noticed with UA resistive index [90% with an area under the curve (AUC) was 0.90] followed by UA pulsatility (78% with AUC was 0.80) and MCA resistive index (76% with AUC was 0.75). Also, the UA systolic diastolic ratio had 70% overall accuracy for the prediction of preeclampsia with the AUC was 0.74. Conclusion UA and MCA Doppler indices were worse in preeclamptic versus nonpreeclamptic ladies. Worse Doppler indices were correlated with a greater incidence of adverse neonatal findings and were predictive of preeclampsia.