Maternal cerebral blood flow changes in pregnancy - 28/08/11
, Mustapha Hatab, PhD b, Diane M Twickler, MD a, b
Reprint requests: Gerda G. Zeeman, MD, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Isala Clinics, Sophia Hospital, Dr. Van Heesweg 2, 8025 AB Zwolle, The NetherlandsDallas, Texas
Abstract |
Objective |
This study was undertaken to determine blood flow changes in the large cerebral arteries during normal pregnancy.
Study design |
Ten healthy pregnant volunteers underwent velocity-encoded phase contrast magnetic resonance imaging at 4 time intervals: 14 to 16, 28 to 32, and 36 to 38 weeks' gestation, and at 6 to 8 weeks' postpartum. Analysis consisted of serial paired Student t tests, with P<.05 considered significant.
Results |
By using postpartum values for comparison, cerebral blood flow decreased by 14 to 16 weeks in the middle cerebral artery (P<.001), but was not significantly changed in the posterior cerebral artery. Significant decreases occurred in both the middle (P<.0001) and posterior (P=.002) cerebral arteries in late pregnancy.
Conclusion |
An approximately 20% reduction in large artery cerebral blood flow occurs during normal pregnancy, secondary to changes in velocity, whereas the area of these vessels remains unchanged. These findings may represent generalized vasodilatation of downstream resistance arterioles, assuming constant blood flow at the tissue level.
Le texte complet de cet article est disponible en PDF.Keywords : Magnetic resonance imaging, cerebral blood flow, pregnancy
Plan
 | Presented at the Twenty-Third Annual Meeting of the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine, San Francisco, Calif, February 3-8, 2003. |
Vol 189 - N° 4
P. 968-972 - octobre 2003 Retour au numéro
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