Uteroplacental Doppler flow velocity waveforms in the second trimester. A complex circulation.

Continuous wave Doppler ultrasound was used to examine the uteroplacental circulation of an unselected group of 977 [corrected] women between 16 and 24 weeks gestation. Reference ranges for resistance index (RI) were determined and throughout this gestation range there was a significant fall in RI with increasing gestation. The RI was lower from placental than non-placental sites and from distal 'arcuate' than proximal 'uterine' sites. There is a need to define fixed standardized sites for sampling and for normal ranges to account for variables such as placental site.