Association of umbilical vein flow with abnormal fetal growth and adverse perinatal outcome in low‐risk population: multicenter prospective study
Authors: Ramirez Zegarra R. , Carbone I. F. , Angeli L. , Gigli F. , Di Ilio C. , Barba O. , Cassardo O. , Valentini B. , Ferrazzi E. , Ghi T. 
Published: November 2023

Objective

To investigate the relationship of umbilical vein flow (UVF) measured close to term with abnormal fetal growth and adverse perinatal outcome in a cohort of pregnancies at low risk of placental insufficiency.

Methods

This was a prospective multicenter observational study conducted across two tertiary maternity units. Patients with a singleton appropriate‐for‐gestational‐age fetus between 35 and 38 weeks' gestation were included. Pregnancies at higher risk of placental insufficiency or with fetal anomalies were excluded. At ultrasound examination, the abdominal circumference (AC), umbilical vein diameter and peak velocity of the umbilical vein were measured, and, using these variables, a new variable, UVF/AC, was calculated. The primary outcome was the occurrence of severely stunted fetal growth, defined as a greater than 40‐percentile drop between estimated fetal weight at the third‐trimester ultrasound and birth weight. The occurrence of adverse perinatal outcome (defined as one of the following: neonatal acidosis (umbilical artery pH < 7.15 and/or base excess > 12 mmol/L) at birth, 5‐min Apgar score < 7, neonatal resuscitation or neonatal intensive care unit admission) was analyzed as a secondary outcome.

Results

Between April 2021 and March 2023, 365 women were included in the study. The mean UVF/AC at enrolment was 6.4 ± 2.6 mL/min/cm, and 35 (9.6%) cases were affected by severely stunted fetal growth. Severely stunted fetal growth was associated with a lower mean UVF/AC (5.4 ± 2.6 vs 6.5 ± 2.6 mL/min/cm; P = 0.02) and a higher frequency of UVF/AC < 10th percentile (8/35 (22.9%) vs 28/330 (8.5%); P = 0.01). Moreover, UVF/AC showed an area under the receiver‐operating‐characteristics curve (AUC) of 0.65 (95% CI, 0.55–0.75; P = 0.004) in predicting the occurrence of severely stunted fetal growth, and the optimal cut‐off value of UVF/AC for discriminating between normal and severely stunted fetal growth was 7.2 mL/min/cm. This value was associated with a sensitivity and specificity of 0.77 (95% CI, 0.60–0.90) and 0.33 (95% CI, 0.28–0.39), and positive and negative predictive values of 0.11 (95% CI, 0.07–0.15) and 0.93 (95% CI, 0.87–0.97), respectively. Regarding the occurrence of adverse perinatal outcome, this was associated independently with maternal age (adjusted odds ratio (aOR), 0.93 (95% CI, 0.87–0.99); P = 0.04), UVF/AC Z‐score (aOR, 0.53 (95% CI, 0.30–0.87); P = 0.01) and augmentation of labor (aOR, 2.69 (95% CI, 1.28–5.69); P = 0.009). UVF/AC showed an AUC of 0.65 (95% CI, 0.56–0.73; P = 0.005) in predicting the occurrence of adverse perinatal outcome, and the optimal cut‐off value of UVF/AC for discriminating between normal and adverse perinatal outcome was 6.7 mL/min/cm. This value was associated with a sensitivity and specificity of 0.70 (95% CI, 0.54–0.83) and 0.40 (95% CI, 0.34–0.45), and positive and negative predictive values of 0.14 (95% CI, 0.09–0.19) and 0.91 (95% CI, 0.85–0.95), respectively.

Conclusions

Our data demonstrate an association between reduced UVF close to term, severely stunted fetal growth and adverse perinatal outcome in a cohort of low‐risk pregnant women, with a moderate ability to rule out and a poor ability to rule in either outcome. Further studies are needed to establish whether the assessment of UVF can improve the identification of fetuses at risk of subclinical placental insufficiency and adverse perinatal outcome. © 2023 The Authors. Ultrasound in Obstetrics & Gynecology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology.