[The value of Doppler ultrasound studies of insulin-dependent diabetic patients].

Measurement of umbilical, uterine and arcuate velocity waveforms was used to study 40 pregnancies complicated by insulin dependent diabetes. Continuous wave doppler velocimetry was used to identify flow velocity profiles during the second and third trimester of pregnancy. Resistance index (RI) was calculated to evaluate waveforms. In most of the patients with fetal growth retardation and/or pregnancy induced hypertension an increase in vessel resistance was found in uterine and arcuate arteries as well as diastolic notching. In comparison to that fact White's classification showed no significant correlation to vascular resistance determined by doppler flow measurement. This study indicates that doppler ultrasound examination may have an adjunctive role in the surveillance of pregnancies complicated by diabetes.