LAUSR

Introduction The aim the present study is to evaluate fetal umbilical artery (UA) and middle cerebral artery (MCA) blood flow in patients with gestational diabetes (GD), in order to determine whether minimal anomalies of glucose metabolism may influence fetal placental function. Methods UA and MCA flow were prospectively measured by transabdominal ultrasound in singleton pregnancies between 34 and 37 weeks of gestation. Results The study included 35 women with GD and 217 non-diabetic patients. Middle cerebral pusatility index (PI) was significantly higher in the GD group (mean MCA - PI =1.82±0.27 vs 1.71 ±0.26; p< 0.02). Likewise, MCA peak systolic velocity (MCA-PSV) was higher in the GD group compared to the non-GD group, though the difference was not significant (mean of MCA-PSV =47.14 ±8.45 vs 47.09 ± 11.21; p = 0.98). UA-PI resulted higher in the non-GD group without significant differences (mean of UA-PI =0.88 ±0.14 vs 0.86 ± 0.15; p = 0.32) Conclusions Our study shows that even in cases of minimal metabolic derangements, GD is characterised by a significant variation in fetal Doppler velocimetry, particularly in the brain.