Retrospective Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2024. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Jan 16, 2024; 12(2): 240-248
Published online Jan 16, 2024. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v12.i2.240
Ultrasound blood flow characteristics changes in fetal umbilical artery thrombosis: A retrospective analysis
Si-Jie Hong, Li-Wei Hong, Xiao-Qin He, Xiao-Hong Zhong
Si-Jie Hong, Xiao-Qin He, Xiao-Hong Zhong, Department of Ultrasound, Women and Children's Hospital, School of Medicine, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361000, Fujian Province, China
Li-Wei Hong, Ministry of Science and Education, Women and Children's Hospital, School of Medicine, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361000, Fujian Province, China
Co-first authors: Si-Jie Hong and Li-Wei Hong.
Author contributions: Hong SJ and Hong LW contributed equally to this work, especially in data collection, analysis, and drafting of the initial manuscript; Zhong XH conceived the study; He XQ helped to revise the manuscript; all authors contributed to interpret data; all authors have read and approve the final manuscript.
Supported by Natural Science Foundation of Xiamen, No. 3502Z202373120; and National Key R&D Program of China, No. 2022YFF0606301.
Institutional review board statement: The study was reviewed and approved by the research ethics committee (REC) of Xiamen Women and Children's Hospital (Approval No. KY-2023-081-K01).
Informed consent statement: This study is a retrospective study in which de-identified data was extracted from accumulative database, and the study complies with the Declaration of Helsinki of posing no more than minimal risk to participants. The research ethics committee of Xiamen Women and Children's Hospital approved the waiver of informed consent.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Xiao-Hong Zhong, MS, Chief Physician, Department of Ultrasound, Women and Children's Hospital, School of Medicine, Xiamen University, No. 10 Zhenhai Road, Xiamen 361000, Fujian Province, China. 232738827@qq.com
Received: August 30, 2023
Peer-review started: August 30, 2023
First decision: December 7, 2023
Revised: December 18, 2023
Accepted: December 26, 2023
Article in press: December 26, 2023
Published online: January 16, 2024
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background

Umbilical artery thrombosis (UAT) is a rare condition that poses a serious threat to the lives of both the mother and the fetus. Its occurrence has been reported to be potentially associated with hypercoagulability in pregnant women. While ultrasound is a routine method for assessing umbilical artery blood flow, there is currently limited research on the blood flow changes before and after the occurrence of UAT.

Research motivation

Studies of changes in ultrasound flow indices before and after the onset of UAT can help in early detection and intervention to reduce the risk to the pregnant woman and the fetus.

Research objectives

The results of this study will help to understand the changes in blood flow before and after the onset of UAT and will hopefully lead to the use of ultrasound flow indices as an effective means of tracking the condition of people at high risk for UAT.

Research methods

In this study, blood flow ultrasound indices and coagulation parameters of patients before and after the occurrence of UAT were collected and analyzed statistically.

Research results

Patients with UAT did not display a significantly abnormal blood coagulation status compared with normal pregnant controls. In patients with UAT, the changes in ultrasound blood flow indices were significantly greater than normal pregnant women.

Research conclusions

Hypercoagulability alone is not sufficient for the occurrence of UAT. Significant changes in ultrasound indicators after UAT were demonstrated. Peak systolic velocity can play important roles in the diagnosis of UAT.

Research perspectives

Prospective studies with large sample sizes can help to further explore the physiologic changes in the process of umbilical artery embolization by setting up well-defined control groups.