Shear Wave Elastography In Evaluation Of Placental Stifness And Correlation With Placental Thickness And Fetal Weight In Early Prediction Of High Risk Pregnancies

Abstract

In many organs, including the placenta, it is now possible to newlinemeasure tissue Shear Wave Velocity (SWV) using US elastography1 - newline4 newline. SWV analysis offers a numerical assessment of the elastic newlinecharacteristics of soft tissue 5 newline. In stiffer, less elastic tissue, higher newlinevelocities are found and may signify a variety of disease newlineconditions 2 newline. In women with pre-eclampsia PE6 -1 0 and foetal growth newlinerestriction1 1 -1 4 , both of which are characterised by substantial newlineplacental malfunction, placental elastography i nvestigations have newlinedemonstrated indications of greater tissue stiffness. newlineAlthough many obese women may have subclinical signs of newlineplacental malfunction, there is a dearth of knowledge regarding newlineplacental elastographic abnormalities in these individuals. O besity newlineis linked to decreased vascular compliance and elevated stiffness in newlinenon-pregnant people 1 5 . Obesity is frequently associated with newlinegeneralised cardiovascular changes during pregna ncy, including newlineelevated blood pressure ( systolic ) 1 6 and impaired development of newlinea low resistance utero placental circulation newlineWith these in view this study was conducted to assess the newlinefactors affecting elasticity by finding the normal elastogram values newlineof healthy pregnancy placentas using the SWE technique due to the newlineimportance of early diagnosis of high risk pregnancies, in newlinecorrelation with placental thickness and fetal birth weight newline