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Accuracy of fetal middle cerebral artery Doppler ultrasound for moderate to severe fetal anemia prior to 24 weeks gestation

Journal of Perinatology volume 43, pages 231–232 (2023)Cite this article

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Maternal red blood cell alloimmunization is the leading cause of fetal hemolytic anemia [1] and untreated can lead to cardiovascular failure, hydrops fetalis, and death. The introduction of intrauterine blood transfusion (IUT) increased the survival rate from 35% to 83% [2]. However, this procedure has complication rates of 3.3–17.3% [3, 4]. Accordingly, accurate diagnosis of the anemic fetus is essential.

Middle cerebral artery (MCA) peak systolic velocity (PSV) is a highly sensitive, noninvasive method of detecting fetal anemia. The positive predictive value (PPV) of MCA-PSV for fetal anemia is 92.2% in fetuses between 24–40 weeks gestation [5]. It is unclear if this accuracy is applicable at earlier gestational ages. The purpose of our study is to describe the accuracy of fetal MCA Doppler ultrasound in fetuses less than 24 weeks.

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References

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Kevin McClelland for identification of the cohort, David Guise for establishing the electronic data capture tool, and Surya Sruthi Bhamidipalli for statistical analysis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA

    Katherine Miller, Sophie Green & Anthony Shanks

  2. Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA

    Allyson Schiefer

  3. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI, USA

    Methodius G. Tuuli

Authors
  1. Katherine Miller
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  2. Sophie Green
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  3. Allyson Schiefer
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  4. Methodius G. Tuuli
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  5. Anthony Shanks
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Contributions

KM completed the IRB submission, assisted with the literature search, performed the data collection, and wrote and revised the manuscript. SG assisted with the data collection and revision of the manuscript. AlS assisted with the IRB submission and the literature search and drafted components of the initial manuscript. MT reviewed and revised the manuscript. AnS designed the study, played an important role in interpretation of the results, and reviewed and revised the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Katherine Miller.

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Miller, K., Green, S., Schiefer, A. et al. Accuracy of fetal middle cerebral artery Doppler ultrasound for moderate to severe fetal anemia prior to 24 weeks gestation. J Perinatol 43, 231–232 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41372-022-01444-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41372-022-01444-z

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