Abstract
BackgroundThe adaption of elastic arteries to transient increase in hemodynamic load in normal pregnancy (NP) remains controversial. The purpose of this study was to investigate the NP carotid remodeling and regional arterial stiffness before and after parturition.MethodsFifty-one NP women and 30 age-matched non-pregnant women were included. All women underwent right common carotid artery (RCCA) measurements with MylabTwice ultrasound instrument (Esaote, Italy). Carotid intima-medial thickness (IMT), pulse wave velocity (PWV, m/s), distensibility coefficient (DC, 1/KPa), α, β, augmentation index (AIx, %) and carotid arterial pressure were obtained by the newly developed ultrasound vascular wall tracking methods: automatic QAS (Quality Arterial Stiffness) and QIMT (Quality Intima-Medial Thickness) Follow up study was performed.ResultsCompared to the non-pregnant controls, the arterial pressures were significantly increased and RCCA diameter was significantly enlarged in late gestational NP women. Twenty months after parturition, carotid diameter, DC, AIx, PWV and arterial wall tension were significantly decreased and had no significant difference with those in non-pregnant controls.ConclusionsCarotid arterial remodeling and stiffening could be seen in the normal pregnant women, which seems to be a physiological adaption and could be recovered post partum. QIMT and QAS together could provide a comprehensive assessment of the maternal carotid arterial changes during pregnancy.
Highlights
The adaption of elastic arteries to transient increase in hemodynamic load in normal pregnancy (NP) remains controversial
It has been shown that the systemic compliance increases during normal pregnancy, while, the study by Visontai Z et al showed that the distensibility coefficient (DC) of the maternal carotid artery was decreased [3]
High resolution ultrasound acquisitions based on radio frequency signal gives the opportunity to assess precisely the local arterial wall properties [8], which could be performed by using the automatic QAS (Quality Arterial Stiffness) and QIMT (Quality Intima-Medial Thickness) packages provided by MylabTwice ultrasound instrument (Esaote, Italy)
Summary
The adaption of elastic arteries to transient increase in hemodynamic load in normal pregnancy (NP) remains controversial. High resolution ultrasound acquisitions based on radio frequency signal gives the opportunity to assess precisely the local arterial wall properties [8], which could be performed by using the automatic QAS (Quality Arterial Stiffness) and QIMT (Quality Intima-Medial Thickness) packages provided by MylabTwice ultrasound instrument (Esaote, Italy) This newly developed ultrasound vascular wall tracking method has been validated and could give a rapid, delicate (resolution is 17 μm) and high reproducible estimate of IMT, and automatically measures the regional arterial stiffness. The purpose of this study was to investigate the regional carotid arterial stiffness during normal pregnancy by employing this new method, which might help for clarifying the controversies and further understanding of the maternal arterial adaptions to the transient increase in hemodynamic load
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