[Blood circulation in retarded and normal offspring of hypertonic pregnant women].

Doppler velocimetry was carried out on 62 women with hypertensive disorders in pregnancy. From this group, 19 infants with intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR, defined as gestational age related birth weight of < 10.percentile) were born. The rest 43 were appropriate for gestational age (AGA, > 10. percentiled). Blood flow velocity studies were performed in maternal uterine vessels, and fetal umbilical, cerebral and renal arteries. Patients with IUGR exhibited a not always significant increase of indices in uterine, umbilical and renal arteries, and a non significant decrease in middle cerebral arteries. The difference was more marked when the ratio of cerebral/umbilical indices were calculated and compared. In this case the ratio of IUGR fetuses were half of the AGA, fetuses with significant differences. The value same reflective of IUGR were obtained in the ratio between arteria umbilicalis/middle cerebral artery indices. These ratios more clearly separate the IUGR from AGA fetuses, than any other indice of the investigated artery alone. There were in the study material one case of cerebral hemorrhage and one case of intrauterine death. Both belonged to the IUGR group.