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Hum. Reprod. Advance Access published online on November 22, 2007
Human Reproduction, doi:10.1093/humrep/dem375
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© The Author 2007. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Different changes in resistance index between uterine artery and uterine radial artery during early pregnancy

H. Tamura1, I. Miwa1, K. Taniguchi1, R. Maekawa1, H. Asada1, T. Taketani1, A. Matsuoka1, Y. Yamagata1, H. Ishikawa2 and N. Sugino1,3

1 Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Yamaguchi University Graduate School of Medicine, Minamikogushi 1-1-1, Ube 755-8505, Japan 2 Department of Public Health, Yamagata University Graduate School of Medicine, Iida-Nishi 2-2-2, Yamagata 990-9585, Japan

3 Correspondence address. Tel: +81-836-22-2286; Fax: +81-836-22-2287; E-mail: sugino{at}yamaguchi-u.ac.jp

BACKGROUND: Changes in blood flow impedance of the uterine artery (UA) and uterine radial artery (RA) which is in the lower-extremity of the UA were examined during early pregnancy.

METHODS: Blood flow impedance was assessed by transvaginal color-pulsed-Doppler-ultrasonography in 72 women from weeks 4–16 of pregnancy and expressed as a resistance index (RI).

RESULTS: RA-RI remained at the late-luteal phase level until the 5th week of pregnancy, decreased until the 7th week, and remained low until the 10th week. UA-RI remained at the late-luteal phase level until the 10th week, and then gradually decreased until the 16th week. In nine women with spontaneous abortion, five out of six women with impaired growth of the gestational sac showed high RA-RI at the 6th week of pregnancy, whereas all three women with loss of fetal heart beat at the 8th week showed normal changes in RA-RI.

CONCLUSIONS: Our results show different changes in blood flow impedance between the UA and RA during early pregnancy. A significant decrease of RA-RI after the 5th week may reflect vascular remodeling in the maternal–fetal interface at placentation, whereas a significant decrease of UA-RI after the 10th week may reflect changes of the whole uterine blood flow associated with uterine growth.

Key words: uterine blood flow/uterine artery/radial artery/early pregnancy/spontaneous abortion

Submitted on April 23, 2007; resubmitted on October 9, 2007; accepted on October 23, 2007.


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