ANTENATAL UMBILICAL CORD COILING INDEX AS A PREDICTOR OF PREGNANCY OUTCOME

Abstract

Introduction: Negative pregnancy outcomes, such as stillbirth, neonatal mortality, premature delivery, low birth weight, and admission to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), are linked to anomalies in the umbilical cord, such as the nuchal cord, marginal cord insertion, and aberrant cord coiling. Not many studies throw insight into this topic from South Indian settings. Objective: To investigate the role of the antenatal umbilical cord coiling index (AUCCI) in predicting adverse pregnancy outcomes. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study of 200 pregnant women who underwent antenatal ultrasound scans with ≥ 28 weeks of gestation with singleton live pregnancy who attended the obstetrics department. The AUCCI was measured as the ratio of the total number of coils in the umbilical cord to its length. The primary outcome was to nd the association between AUCCI and adverse pregnancy outcomes, including both maternal and fetal outcomes. Results: The mean AUCCI was 24 ±0.10, we categorised AUCCI <0.42 as hypocoiled, 0.42 – 0.59 as normocoiled and more than equal to 60 as hypercoiled based on distribution. We also observed a signicant association between AUCCI and PPH, PROM, APGAR score, NICU admission, and low birth weight. (p-value <0.05) Conclusion: The antenatal umbilical cord coiling index is a simple and noninvasive tool that can be used to predict adverse pregnancy outcomes. The lower the AUCCI, the higher the risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes