Estudio del volumen y la vascularización trofoblástica mediante power doppler tridimensional en la novena semana en gestaciones espontáneas y tras técnicas de reproducción asistida

Objective

To determine whether there are differences in the volume and trophoblastic vascularisation at early stages of pregnancy between spontaneous pregnancies and those achieved after assisted reproduction techniques.

Methods

A prospective observational study was performed during week 9 of single pregnancies, using a trans-vaginal 3-dimensional ultrasound scan using power Doppler. The acquired volumes were analysed using the image program VOCAL –Virtual Organ Computer-Aided Analysis–, to evaluate the volume of the placenta, the vascularisation index, the flow index, and the vascularisation flow index.

Results

Of the 59 pregnant women included in the study, 32 had fertility treatments, and 27 were spontaneous pregnancies. In a comparative analysis, all the factors studied showed statistically significant differences. The measurements of these values for the assisted reproduction techniques group were significantly lower.

Conclusions

The study of the volumetric and trophoblastic vascularisation could be useful for understanding and preventing the most common placenta disorders in the assisted reproduction technique pregnancies, and it would explain some adverse prenatal outcomes in those pregnancies.