Objective of the study To examine the potential value of maternal ophthalmic artery Doppler at 19 to 23 weeks

1.1  Introduction and Need for the study:

•       The prevalence of pre-eclampsia 8-10% which is responsible for maternal and perinatal

morbidity and mortality, therefore early prediction will help in reducing the morbidity and

mortality

•       The ophthalmic artery  which is the first branch of internal carotid artery which is

in turn a branch of  common carotid artery ,the left common carotid arises from the arch of

aorta and right common carotid arises from the brachiocephalic trunk, therefore the blood  

pressure changes are reflected earlier on these branches of which ophthalmic artery is  

  easily accessible vessel for Doppler assessment.

•       In women with pre-eclampsia ,compared with normotensive pregnant women

,there is decrease in impedence to flow and increase in the flow

 velocity waveforms from the ophthalmic arteries.  

Need for the study

•       There are many studies have reported that ophthalmic artery Doppler has been a useful biomarker for  prediction of Pre-Eclampsia.

•       However the period of gestation was not defined as the studies were done on three different groups with different period of gestation. Therefore further studies are required to be done on larger population under a defined range of gestational age.