Uteroplacental blood flow index in intrauterine growth retardation of fetal or maternal origin.

Uteroplacental blood flow index was determined in 30 women with intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR group) and in 26 women without fetal growth retardation (control group) during the last trimester of pregnancy. After 1 mCi (37 MBq) of indium-113m chloride had been injected intravenously the radiation was registered by a computer-linked scintillation camera positioned above the placenta during 10 s-intervals for 240 s. From the isotope accumulation curve a uteroplacental blood flow index could be calculated for each patient. The median blood flow index in the IUGR group was less than half of that in the control group. In the IUGR group the index was as low in the six women who gave birth to infants with congenital malformations as in the other 24 women in whom fetal growth retardation was due to maternal factors.