Open Access

REVIEW

Current Perspectives on Umbilical Cord Abnormalities Including Blood Flow Parameters Based on Ultrasound Observations

by Xue Song^1,2, Cun Liu², Jingying Wang^1,*, Xinglian Yang¹, Mingrui Li¹

1 School of Energy and Power Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan, 250061, China
2 Department of Ultrasound, Jinan Central Hospital, Jinan, 250000, China

* Corresponding Author: Jingying Wang. Email:

Molecular & Cellular Biomechanics 2022, 19(4), 209-219. https://doi.org/10.32604/mcb.2022.026082

Received 15 August 2022; Accepted 10 October 2022; Issue published 27 December 2022

Abstract

The umbilical cord is a vital structure between the fetus and placenta for the growth and well-being of the fetus. Although the umbilical cord may be the only organ that dies at the beginning of life, it is one of the most important parts of the feta-placental unit and plays a role in determining how life begins. In general, the prenatal examination of the umbilical cord is limited to the observation of the number of vessels and the evaluation of umbilical artery blood flow parameters. Pathologists have done more research on the morphological characteristics of the umbilical cord and linked them to perinatal outcomes. The introduction of advanced imaging technology makes it possible to study the characteristics of fetal umbilical cord from early to late gestation. Many studies have shown that the changes of umbilical cord structure may be related to pathological conditions, such as preeclampsia, fetal growth restriction. Prenatal morphometric umbilical cord characteristics and arterial blood flow parameters in normal and pathologic conditions are discussed in this review.

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Keywords

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