Biometría placentaria en la predicción de complicaciones de la gestación

Abstract

The relationship between placental biometry and different complications of pregnancy has been established. However, these measures are complex, time consuming, and they are not a part of U/S examination routine. The objective was to assess the value of placental biometry in the early identification of those pregnancies that will develop pre-eclampsia or fetal growth retardation. A prospective study of an unselected population of 319 in the 20th gestational week was made, measuring the thickness, diameter and area of a placental section. As bibliographical references are scarce, our placental biometric charts are provided. Although there was a tendency to find smaller placentas with these complications (a smaller diameter and section area), the differences were not significant, and the difference was only significant in the in the lowest area in the fetal growth retardation group (p = 0.001; 95% CI, 1.049-3.213). In those cases associated to serious pre-eclampsia and fetal growth retardation under the 5th percentile, the placenta tends to be thicker at 20 weeks, with a lower diameter and section area. However, we could not make any conclusions as the number of cases was too low (4). Uterine artery Doppler is a better predictor. Detailed placentary biometry cannot be incorporated into daily practice, however the measurement of placental thickness has been proposed by some authors as routine, because a large placenta is related to greater perinatal morbidity and mortality.