Ophthalmic artery doppler and biomarkers of impaired placentation at 36 weeks' gestation in pregnancies with small fetuses.

Ophthalmic artery PSV ratio, reflective of peripheral vascular resistance, and UtA-PI, PlGF and sFLT-1, biomarkers of impaired placentation, are altered in pregnancies complicated by hypertensive disorders and to a lesser extent in non-hypertensive pregnancies delivering SGA and FGR neonates. The linear association between each biomarker and birthweight z-score suggests the presence of a continuous physiological relation between fetal size and peripheral vascular resistance and placentation, rather than a dichotomous relation of high peripheral resistance and impaired placentation in small by comparison with non-small fetuses. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.