Knowledge, Attitudes and Practice about Obstetric Ultrasonography among Women Attending a University Hospital: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background: Obstetric sonography is one of the prenatal tests offered to most pregnant women and an essential tool that helps health care providers to establish fetal condition and growth. The Objective: to assess the knowledge, attitudes, and practice about obstetric sonography among women at KAUH in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted during 2018-2019 among 367 women. It included all women that attend the OB/GYN outpatient clinic at KAUH in Jeddah. The data was collected through interviewing questionnaire. The questionnaire consisted of 5 items to assess their knowledge, attitude, practice, and sociodemographic characteristics. Data were entered into a Microsoft Excel 2014 sheet, and statistical analysis was performed using IBM SPSS Statistics. Result: The mean knowledge score about obstetric sonography was 13.9 ± 1.7, where 343 (93.0%) had good knowledge, and only 26 (7.0%) had poor knowledge. The result revealed that the third-fourths of the women 291 (78.9%) believed that obstetric sonography is safe, and 309 (83.8%) believed that obstetric sonography doesn’t lead to a congenital anomaly. There was a difference in the knowledge score regarding education level, occupation, monthly income, and those with higher education, those who worked, and those with higher monthly payment had a higher knowledge score. Also, there was a positive correlation between knowledge score and both gravidity and parity. Conclusion: Women’s knowledge, attitude, and practice about the purpose of the obstetric sonography were good. So, the primary health care providers should be advised to focusing more on providing health education on obstetric sonography to all pregnant women during their ANC visits.

Ultrasound blood flow characteristics changes in fetal umbilical artery thrombosis:A retrospective analysis

BACKGROUND Umbilical artery thrombosis(UAT)is extremely uncommon and leads to adverse perinatal outcomes.Hypercoagulation of blood in pregnant women is suspected to be an important risk for UAT.Ultrasound is an effective way to detect thrombosis.The mother can monitor her own fetal health using ultrasound,which enables her to take preventative action in case of emergency.AIM To investigate ultrasonic blood signal after UAT in the umbilical artery,and evaluate the relationship between hypercoagulability and UAT.METHODS We described a case of a newly formed UAT with markedly altered ultrasonic indices of umbilical artery blood flow,and retrospectively studied it with 18 UAT patients confirmed by histopathology from October 2019 and March 2023 in Xiamen Women and Children's Hospital.Patients’information was collected from medical archives,including maternal clinical data,neonatal outcomes,pathological findings and ultrasonic indices of umbilical artery blood flow,such as systolic-diastolic duration ratio(S/D),resistance index(RI),pulsatility index(PI)and peak systolic velocity(PSV).Ultrasound and coagulation indices were analyzed with matched samples t-test and Wilcoxon rank sum test using the statistical packages in R(version 4.2.1)including car(version 3.1-0)and stats(version 4.2.1),and visualized by ggplot2 package(version 3.3.6).RESULTS A patient with normal findings in second and third-trimester routine ultrasound scan developed UAT with severe changes in ultrasonic indices of umbilical artery blood flow(within 2.5th of reference ranges)in a short period of time.Statistical analysis of umbilical artery blood flow ultrasound indices for 19 patients with UAT showed that the decrease in S/D,RI,and PI and increase of PSV during the disease process was greater than that of non-UAT.All 18 patients delivered in our hospital showed characteristic manifestations of UAT on histological examination after delivery,most of which(16/18)showed umbilical cord abnormalities,with 15 umbilical cord torsion and 1 pseudoknot.Coagulation parameters were not significantly changed in UAT patients compared with normal pregnancy women.CONCLUSION Significant changes in ultrasound indicators after UAT were demonstrated.PSV can play important roles in the diagnosis of UAT.Hypercoagulability alone is not sufficient for the occurrence of UAT.