Hong SJ, Hong LW, He XQ, Zhong XH. Ultrasound blood flow characteristics changes in fetal umbilical artery thrombosis: A retrospective analysis. World J Clin Cases 2024; 12(2): 240-248 [PMID: 38313644 DOI: 10.12998/wjcc.v12.i2.240]
Corresponding Author of This Article
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
Research Domain of This Article
Radiology, Nuclear Medicine & Medical Imaging
Article-Type of This Article
Retrospective Study
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (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: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
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 byNatural 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.
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 Processing time: 133 Days and 16.1 Hours
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.
