DOPPLER ULTRASOUND IMAGING - A NEW TECHNIQUE TO DETECT LUNG HYPOPLASIA BEFORE BIRTH

Combined color-coded Doppler and pulsed Doppler ultrasonography allows visualization of the fetal pulmonary circulation and study of pulmona ry blood flow velocity waveforms. Systolic and diastolic changes were observed in fetal pulmonary artery flow velocity waveforms in a case o f fetal pulmonary hypoplasia at 34 weeks of gestation. This observatio n supports our hypothesis that Doppler velocimetry can detect lung hyp oplasia based on post- mortem examination of decreased total size of t he pulmonary vascular bed, decreased number of pulmonary vessels per u nit lung tissue and increased pulmonary vascular muscularization.