CORRELATION OF PRENATAL ULTRASOUND FINDINGS WITH PLACENTAL PATHOLOGY IN HIGH RISK PREGNANCY

OBJECTIVE: To correlate the prenatal ultrasound findings with placental pathology in high risk pregnancy. METHOD: After approval by institutional ethical committee the prospective observational study was conducted in the department of obstetrics & gynecology, NSCB Medical College, Jabalpur (M. P.) from 1st September 2010 to 31st august 2011. A total of 77 cases were studied including antenatal women with mean gestational age >= 28 weeks not in active labor with high risk factor (inclusion criteria). Prenatal ultrasound and histomorphology of placenta was done in the respective department of the same institution. Statistical analysis was done by using t test and chi square test. RESULT: The sensitivity of prenatal ultrasound to detect retroplacental clot was 16.7%. The cases with severe pre-eclampsia and IUGR had more number of cases with abnormal flow in Color Doppler than there with other risk factor. Infarcts and retroplacental clot were found only in cases of severe pre-eclampsia. The sensitivity of color Doppler to detect abnormal placental pathology was found to be 76%. The prenatal ultrasound was not found sensitive enough to detect the placental infarcts. CONCLUSION: Placental pathologies adversely affect the perinatal outcome. Prenatal USG can identify a range of these abnormalities and can help to take timely action during antenatal period to improve the perinatal outcome.