Reproducibility of three-dimensional power Doppler placental vascular indices in pregnancies between 26 and 35 weeks.

Purpose: Assess intra and interobserver reproducibility of three-dimensional power Doppler (3DPD) placental vascular indices in normal pregnancies between 26 and 35 weeks.

Methods: Thirty 3D volumes were captured by one observer and stored for analysis. Vascularization index (VI), flow index (FI) and vascularization flow index (VFI) were calculated from the spherical placental tissue samples obtained through the automatic Virtual Organ Computer-aided AnaLysis (VOCAL).

Placental blood flow measured by three-dimensional power Doppler ultrasound at 26 to 35 weeks gestation in normal pregnancies.

Objective: To evaluate placental vascular indices, in pregnancies between 26 and 35 weeks, using three-dimensional power Doppler (3DPD) ultrasound and the effect of placental location on these indices.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional study involving 283 patients. The placental vascularization index (VI), flow index (FI) and vascularization and flow index (VFI) was obtained using the VOCAL program.

Placenta: angiogenesis and vascular assessment through three-dimensional power Doppler ultrasonography.

The placenta is fundamental for fetal development. It combines the functions of an endocrine organ, kidneys, lungs and intestines, purifying catabolites, oxygenating and nourishing the conceptus. Its fetal portion is the largest part develops from the chorionic sac.

Ultrasound assessment of the fetal biophysical profile: what does an radiologist need to know?

Proposed by Frank Manning about 26 years ago, fetal biophysical profile has been incorporated to the propaedeutics of non-invasive fetal well being assessment in high-risk gestations. Despite the existence of other methods for assessing fetal vitality, as Doppler flowmetry, the biophysical profile continues to be important in estimating the risk of hypoxia and perinatal morbimortality for those fetuses. In the present article, the authors review the regulatory mechanisms of fetal biophysical activities, as well as physiological and pathological factors that interfere with them.

Comparison of two- and three-dimensional ultrasonography in the evaluation of fetal heart: image quality and time spent in the exam.

Objectives: To compare fetal heart evaluation done through two-dimensional (2DUS) and three-dimensional ultrasonography (3DUS) as to optimal plane imaging, image quality, and time needed to perform the examination.

Methods: Prospective study involving 12 normal pregnant women, with gestational ages ranging from 22 to 26 weeks, scanned with a VOLUSON 730 with a convex 4.0-7.

Diagnosis of uteroperitoneal fistula through color Doppler hysterosonography.

Introduction: Uterine fistulas are infrequent pathologic entities characterized by abnormal communication of the uterus with any other organ or structure through a perforation formed due to traumatic and infectious conditions among others. The use of hysterosonography as method of diagnosis for that pathologic entity has few descriptions in medical literature. MEDLINE search resulted in only two cases reporting the use of HS in the diagnosis of uterine fistula.

XI VOCAL (eXtended Imaging VOCAL): a new modality for three-dimensional sonographic volume measurement.

Introduction: The important technological evolutions that three-dimensional ultrasonography devices have gone through in the last years have brought great benefits for the volumetric measurement of fetal organs and structures. In clinical practice, three-dimensional volumetry has helped to identify abnormalities in fetal compartment and other related organs, assisting in the diagnosis and risk estimation of several pathological conditions in fetal medicine.

Aim: The authors describe a new methodology for volumetric calculation through three-dimensional ultrasonography called eXtended Imaging VOCAL (XI VOCAL), which is part of the software Three-dimensional eXtended Imaging (3DXI).