Transvaginal color Doppler imaging in the assessment of uteroplacental blood flow in the normal first-trimester pregnancy.

Characteristic changes of low resistance and high diastolic blood flow velocity were identified by Doppler studies starting in the early phase of the second trimester. These changes were attributed by some authors to trophoblastic invasion of the uterine vasculature converting the uterus into a low-resistance organ. Because of technical limitations previous studies were confined to the uterine artery and its main branches. With the development of color Doppler and transvaginal ultrasonography we can now identify blood flow in various small vessels in the placental bed. This study was performed to assess the ability of color Doppler ultrasonography to evaluate subtrophoblastic blood flow by color identification in the early phase of normal pregnancy from 5 to 9 weeks' gestation. Results show that the characteristic increase in diastolic blood flow is evident as early as 5 weeks' gestation.