Assessment of gestational trophoblastic disease by Doppler ultrasonography

Abstract

Objectives: To relate uterine artery blood flow characteristics to serum human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) levels in patients with gestational trophoblastic disease (GTD). Study design: Twenty-one patients with GTD were investigated by serum hCG titers and Doppler ultrasonography of uterine arteries. The relations between the Doppler indices and the serum hCG titers were evaluated by paired- t, Mann–Whitney U tests, and Pearson’s correlation analysis. Results: Significant but weak negative correlations were observed between systole/diastole ( S/ D) ratios, resistance indices (RIs) and pulsatility indices (PIs) and the absolute values of serum hCG levels with correlation coefficients of −0.31, −0.37, and −0.33 ( P<0.05). However, the same Doppler indices had more significant and strong negative correlations with the logarithmic values of the serum hCG levels with correlation coefficients of −0.65, −0.58, and −0.63, respectively ( P<0.01). Five patients who received chemotherapy had significantly lower Doppler indices than those 16 patients with spontaneous regression ( P<0.001). Conclusions: Uterine artery Doppler indices might be used for the surveillance of the patients with GTD.