Borderline Amniotic Fluid Index, Fetal Doppler Indices and Non-Stress Test as Predictors of Poor Perinatal Outcomes

Abstract Background: Assessment of amniotic fluid is an essential part of evaluation of fetal health in terms of fetal distress, meconium aspiration, cesarean section and fetal mortality. The assessment of amniotic fluid volume is very crucial for the survival of the fetus and the Amniotic Fluid Index (AFI) is the most common way for the estimation of amniotic fluid volume which is performed by ultrasound method. Studies have revealed that AFI is an accurate criterion for estimating adequate placental function. Aim of Study: This study was borderline amniotic fluid index, non-stress test and fetal doppler indices as predictors of poor perinatal outcomes. Patients and Methods: This study was a cross sectional study that was conducted on 250 pregnant women attending the Maternity Outpatient Clinic at Al-Hussein Hospital, Al-Azhar University and the study was carried during the period between January 2019 till January 2020. Women with a singleton pregnancy who were in third trimester (>!32 weeks) were included in this study and outcomes were studied after delivery. Results: Abnormal continuous cardiotocography (CTG) and abnormal doppler was associated with preterm labor with statistically significant difference between each group and the normal group. On the other hand, there was no statistically significant different between the abnormal CTG group and the abnormal doppler group (p=0.4568). Fetal distress occurred only in 3.77% of the normal group with statistically significant difference when compared to each of the other two groups. In the abnormal CTG group, about 89.80% of cases had fetal distress. While in the abnormal doppler group, in nearly half of cases (48%), fetal distress was noticed. There was a statis-tically significant difference between the abnormal CTG group and the abnormal doppler group regarding the fetal distress (p < 0.001). Conclusion: Abnormal CTG is an immediate good indi-cator of fetal distress and can detect fetal distress more accurately than doppler ultrasound or decreased AFI. However, doppler ultrasound should be considered as long-term indicator.