Nomogram of the anterior cerebral artery doppler indices at 11–13+6 weeks of gestation

Abstract

Objective: To establish nomograms of anterior cerebral artery (ACA) Doppler indices during 11–13⁺⁶ weeks of gestation. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on low-risk singleton pregnancies with healthy fetuses. The ACA Doppler spectral waveforms were obtained using transabdominal Doppler sonography, in the same plane as the nuchal translucency measurement. The normative data were analyzed and constructed for the 5th, 10th, 50th, 90th, and 95th percentiles of ACA Doppler indices during 11–13⁺⁶ weeks of gestation. Results: A total of 216 low-risk singleton pregnancies with healthy fetuses were enrolled in this study; 12 pregnancies were excluded due to duplicating data, affected fetuses by Thalassemia disease, abortion, fetal structural anomalies, fetal growth abnormalities, or uninformed or unrevealed underlying medical conditions. Anterior cerebral artery Doppler was measured, and the nomograms for ACA Doppler indices (ACA-PI, ACA-RI, and ACA-PSV), including the 5th, 10th, 50th, 90th, and 95th percentiles during the gestational period of 11–13⁺⁶ weeks, were established. The range of 5th – 95th percentile of ACA-PI, ACA-RI and ACA-PSV during 11 weeks of gestation were 1.15–1.86, 0.65–0.82 and 6.76–14.40, respectively, during 12 weeks of gestation were 1.22–1.90, 0.65–0.88 and 7.09–15.03, respectively and during 13 weeks of gestation were 1.26–1.82, 0.67–0.84 and 7.69–17.40, respectively. Conclusion: During 11–13⁺⁶ weeks of gestation, the ACA-PI and ACA-RI values remained relatively constant, while PSV values gradually increased with gestation.