Values of hemodynamic changes of fetal vessels evaluated by color Doppler ultrasound for fetuses with growth restriction.

We aimed to explore the values of hemodynamic changes of fetal vessels evaluated by color Doppler ultrasound (CDUS) for fetal growth restric-tion (FGR). A retrospective analysis was performed on clinical data of 75 preg-nant women who received prenatal examination from January 2021 to August 2023 and whose fetuses were diagnosed with FGR (FGR group) and 75 preg-nant women whose fetuses were healthy in the same period and were consid-ered as the healthy group. CDUS was performed on the fetuses. The values of indicators of umbilical artery, middle cerebral artery and aortic arch isthmus for assessing pregnancy outcomes were investigated. The FGR group had signif-icantly lowered arterial resistance index (RI), blood flow pulsatility index (PI), and systolic and diastolic velocity (S/D) levels of the middle cerebral artery and peak systolic velocity (PSV)/end-systolic reflux velocity (ESRV) level of aortic arch isthmus but significantly elevated RI, PI, and S/D levels of umbilical artery in comparison with those of the healthy group (p<0.05). The areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves (AUCs) of RI, PI, and S/D of the umbili-cal artery in diagnosing FGR were 0.893, 0.893 and 0.900, respectively, AUCs of RI, PI, and S/D of the middle cerebral artery were 0.812, 0.874 and 0.910, respectively, and AUC of PSV/ESRV was 0.857 (p<0.05). The incidence rate of severe hypoxia was significantly higher in the fetuses with a more significant RI value of the middle cerebral artery and a larger PSV/ESRV value than those with a smaller RI value of the middle cerebral artery and a smaller PSV/ESRV value (p<0.05). The changes in umbilical artery RI, middle cerebral artery RI, and PSV/ESRV were unrelated to fetal survival rate (p>0.05). Fetal umbilical artery, middle cerebral artery and aortic arch isthmus parameters detected through CDUS are all sensitive indices for assessing FGR.