Effect of antihypertensive therapy with alpha-methyldopa on umbilical artery Doppler in pregnancies with hypertensive disorders.

Aim To clarify whether applying alpha-methyldopa treatment influences flow resistance in umbilical cord artery in pregnant women suffering from hypertensive disorder. Methods In this prospective cross-sectional study a follow-up was done for 50 pregnant women with singleton pregnancies between 36 and 40 gestation weeks, who had been hospitalized at the Gynecology and Obstetrics Department of the Cantonal Hospital Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina from October 2009 to January 2012. Pregnant women were classified in two groups according to the level of using alpha-methyldopa in the treatment. For all expectant mothers, flow in umbilical cord artery was measured, Resistance Index (RI) was determined and values were compared accordingly. Results There was a statistically significant difference in values of umbilical artery resistance index (UA RI) in terms mother's hypertension (p less than 0.05). Therefore, mothers with chronic hypertension had the highest UA RI (0.885±0.4), as well as mothers with preeclampsia superimposed on chronic hypertension (0.785±0.7), while mothers with gestational hypertension had the lowest UA RI (0.6413±0.13) (p less than 0.05). In mothers using the methyldopa UA RI was lower (0.6875±0.14) in comparison to those who did not use it (0.6686±0.13) but with no statistical significance (p greater than 0.05). Conclusion There was no change in flow resistance in umbilical cord artery in pregnant women suffering from hypertensive disorder. Key words: ultrasonography, umbilical artery, pregnancy-induced hypertension.