Utero-placental Doppler ultrasound for improving pregnancy outcome.

Impaired placentation can cause some of the most important obstetrical complications such as pre-eclampsia and intrauterine growth restriction and has been linked to increased fetal morbidity and mortality. The failure to undergo physiological trophoblastic vascular changes is reflected by the high impedance to the blood flow at the level of the uterine arteries. Doppler ultrasound study of utero-placental blood vessels, using waveform indices or notching, may help to identify the 'at-risk' women in the first and second trimester of pregnancy, such that interventions might be used to reduce maternal and fetal morbidity and/or mortality.