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Comparative Study
. 2024 Sep;27(3):471-477.
doi: 10.1007/s40477-023-00801-8. Epub 2023 Jul 30.

Role of acoustic radiation force impulse elastography of placenta in the diagnosis of pre-eclampsia

Nagappan Elango  1 , Rajakumar Rathnasamy  1 , Jayaprakash Natarajan  1 , Viyannan Maheswaran  2   3 , S P Annamalai  1
Affiliations
Comparative Study

Role of acoustic radiation force impulse elastography of placenta in the diagnosis of pre-eclampsia

Nagappan Elango et al. J Ultrasound. 2024 Sep.

Abstract

Background: Placental dysfunction is one of the main causes of preeclampsia and hypertensive disorders of pregnancy.

Material and methods: This is a prospective comparative study done on 30 pregnant women with pre-eclampsia and another 30 pregnant women as controls. In all these subjects the elasticity of the placenta was measured.

Results: The results obtained showed that there was a significant difference in SWV values between the two groups (p value = 0.001). The mean SWV value of normal pregnant women was 0.99 m/ second as opposed to 1.99 m/second in pre-eclamptic pregnant women.

Conclusion: Sonoelastography is a promising noninvasive tool in the detection of preeclampsia with high diagnostic accuracy. The SWV values measured at the central zones of the placenta with a cut-off value of 1.325 m/s identify the presence of pre-eclampsia with high sensitivity and specificity.

Keywords: Acoustic radiation force impulse elastography (ARFI); Pre-eclampsia; Shear wave velocity.

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Conflict of interest statement

None.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Division of placenta into Parts and zones for the purpose of taking measurements
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
technique of ARFI measurement in peripheral zone of the middle part of placenta (a) & SWE values showing overall placental mean ARFI (b)
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Histogram showing the age distribution of normal pregnant women. The age distribution of pregnant women with preeclampsia is shown in the histogram (Fig. 4)
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Histogram showing the age distribution of pregnant women with pre-eclampsia
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Distribution of gestational age in normal pregnant women
Fig. 6
Fig. 6
Distribution of gestational age in pre-eclamptic pregnant women
Fig. 7
Fig. 7
Boxplot showing the distribution of gestational age between normal and pre-eclamptic pregnant women
Fig. 8
Fig. 8
Boxplot showing the distribution of ARFI between normal and pre-eclamptic pregnant women
Fig. 9
Fig. 9
Boxplot showing the distribution of ARFI values between central and peripheral regions of placenta in pre-eclamptic pregnant women
Fig. 10
Fig. 10
The Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) Curve for ARFI values
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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