WEDNESDAY, March 29 (HealthDay News) -- Doppler ultrasound serves as the most reliable way of predicting late pregnancy outcomes in women with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), according to a study published in the March issue of Rheumatology.
Du Le Thi Huong, M.D., of the Groupe Hospitalier Pitie-Salpetriere, in Paris, and colleagues compared the predictive value of clinical examination, laboratory tests and Doppler ultrasound examination in the pregnancies of 84 women with SLE and/or antiphospholipid syndrome (APS). Out of 116 pregnancies, 12 ended in fetal deaths and four ended in embryonic losses before a second trimester Doppler ultrasound could be performed, leaving 100 remaining pregnancies to be analyzed.
In those 100 pregnancies, six out of eight fetal/neonatal deaths were associated with abnormal Doppler ultrasound examination results in the second trimester. The abnormalities were notched uterine arteries (62 percent of the cases), abnormal umbilical artery Doppler waveform (37 percent) and intrauterine growth restriction (25 percent). No clinical signs were associated with six of the eight fetal/neonatal deaths.
"(A) history of thrombophlebitis and results of the second trimester Doppler ultrasound examination are the best predictors of late fetal outcome in SLE/APS pregnancy," the authors wrote.
Abstract
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