Hemodynamic changes in maternal renal arteries in twin pregnancy.

AIM: We examined whether the Doppler waveforms of the maternal renal main arteries are altered in women with twin pregnancy compared with those in singleton pregnancy.

METHODS

The indices of vascular resistance and acceleration time of the maternal main renal arteries were obtained from 19 healthy women at 37-38 weeks of singleton gestation and 17 women at the same gestational age with non-preeclamptic twin gestation.

RESULTS

There were no significant differences in the indices of vascular resistance between the singleton and twin groups. However, the acceleration time was significantly prolonged in the twin pregnancy group compared with that in the singleton pregnancy group (83.7 +/- 24 vs. 59.8 +/- 12 ms, p < 0.01).

CONCLUSION

The current results imply that maternal renal arteries are more significantly affected by hemodynamic changes in twin pregnancy than in singleton pregnancy.