Objective: To study the role of uterine artery Doppler at 12 weeks and 19 weeks of gestation to predict preeclampsia in a tertiary care hospital

Methods: This was a prospective study of 100 antenatal patients of 12 weeks of singleton pregnancy attending the outpatient or inpatient sections of Department of OBG. Uterine Artery Doppler at 12 weeks along with NT scan was done. Patients with abnormal uterine artery Doppler at 12 weeks were started on Low dose Aspirin (150mg). Patients were followed up at 19 weeks with uterine artery Doppler along with anomaly scan .Patients who had any abnormal uterine artery Doppler at 19 weeks were followed fortnightly till delivery to see for the development of preeclampsia.

Results: In this study among 100 participants, 34 women had uterine artery diastolic notching at 12 weeks and were given Tab Aspirin 150 mg OD. All the patients who received Aspirin were followed up and none of the patients developed preeclampsia. At 19 weeks, 19 participants had uterine artery diastolic notching out of which 15 cases developed preeclampsia, which was statistically significant. The mean PI among cases who developed preeclampsia was 1.41±0.6 and mean PI among the cases who did not develop preeclampsia was 0.81±0.5 with significant statistical difference in mean PI (p value = <0.0001).Mean birth weight of the babies who developed preeclampsia was 2.4 +/- 0.5 kg, while mean birth weight of those who did not develop preeclampsia was 2.8 +/- 0.7 kg which was statistically significant.

Conclusion: Uterine artery Doppler at 12 weeks and 19 weeks is a screening modality for the early prediction of preeclampsia