Role of acoustic radiation force impulse elastography of placenta in the diagnosis of pre-eclampsia.

BACKGROUND

Placental dysfunction is one of the main causes of preeclampsia and hypertensive disorders of pregnancy.

MATERIAL AND

METHODS

This is a prospective comparative study done on 30 pregnant women with pre-eclampsia and another 30 pregnant women as controls. In all these subjects the elasticity of the placenta was measured.

RESULTS

The results obtained showed that there was a significant difference in SWV values between the two groups (p value = 0.001). The mean SWV value of normal pregnant women was 0.99 m/ second as opposed to 1.99 m/second in pre-eclamptic pregnant women.

CONCLUSION

Sonoelastography is a promising noninvasive tool in the detection of preeclampsia with high diagnostic accuracy. The SWV values measured at the central zones of the placenta with a cut-off value of 1.325 m/s identify the presence of pre-eclampsia with high sensitivity and specificity.