Objective To investigate the fetal breathing-related nasal fluid flow
Doppler waveforms as an indicator of fetal respiratory function in fetuses
diagnosed with fetal growth restriction (FGR) in the third trimester.
Materials and Methods This prospective, non-interventional case-control
study was conducted on 96 pregnant women, including 23 pregnant women diagnosed
with FGR in the third trimester as the FGR group and 73 healthy pregnant women
with fetuses appropriate for gestational age (AGA) as the control group. Fetal
breathing-related nasal fluid flow Doppler was examined in the fetuses of the
participants. Inspiration and expiration duration, inspiration and expiration
peak velocity, total breathing duration, and number of fetal breaths per minute
were calculated.
ResultsBoth groups were similar in terms of the duration of inspiration,
duration of expiration, and total breathing duration (p=0.463, p=0.711, p=0.520,
respectively). Peak inspiratory velocity and peak expiratory velocity were
significantly lower in the FGR group than in the control group, and the number
of fetal breaths per minute was similar in both groups (p=0.027, p=0.012,
p=0.768, respectively). When participants were regrouped into those whose
newborn was admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) after birth and
those who were not, all fetal nasal fluid flow Doppler parameters were similar
in both groups.
Conclusions Although the number of participants was too small to draw a
definitive conclusion, FGR appears to be associated with a decrease in peak
inspiratory and expiratory velocity. The clinical significance of changes in
fetal breathing-related nasal fluid flow Doppler parameters in FGR is as yet
unclear, and their use in clinical follow-up and predicting unfavorable
perinatal outcomes are the subjects of future research.