Vol. 6, Issue 2, Part A (2024)

As they wind their way around the umbilical cord, the vessels form a coil. One coil (5 cm) is the standard for the umbilical chord. Taking the reciprocal of the distance (in cm) between two coils allowed researchers to calculate the prenatal umbilical coiling index (UCI). Starting at the inner edge of an artery or venous wall and continuing along the ipsilateral side of the umbilical cord, the distance between each coil was measured.

Here is a grouping of the umbilical cord coiling index: The normal umbilical coiling index falls between the 10th and 90th percentiles; a hypercoiled index exceeds the 90th percentile; and a hypocoiled index is less than the 10th percentile.

Early diagnosis of the umbilical coiling index by ultrasound examination during pregnancy, before active labor and study, is intended to lower perinatal and neonatal morbidity and mortality. This cross-sectional study compared Doppler parameters, including umbilical vein blood flow volume, peak systolic velocity, and umbilical artery pulsatility index, with the calculations of umbilical cord cross-sectional area, umbilical vessel cross-sectional area, and umbilical coiling index performed on one hundred pregnant women during an ultrasound exam during the latent phase of labor. The results of the ultrasound were linked to the outcomes of the delivery and the newborn. This research separated its findings by the values of the umbilical coiling index and the umbilical cord cross-sectional area. Of the fetuses analyzed, 14% had umbilical cord cross-sectional areas below the 10th percentile, whereas 86% had normal cross-sectional areas. Fetuses that had a lean umbilical chord had lower-than-average birth weights and placental weights. Ultrasound measurements of umbilical cord characteristics showed that fetuses with a slim chord had lower values overall. An aberrant umbilical coiling index was linked to a poor perinatal outcome in 15% of fetuses, 9% in those with values above normal, and 76% in those within the normal range, according to measurements taken during pregnancy. A substantial positive link was found between the amount of blood flow from the umbilical vein and the umbilical cord cross- neonatal sectional area, while a minor negative correlation was found between the umbilical coiling index and the birth weight. The parameters of the umbilical cord that are measured by ultrasound were of lower values in fetuses with a lean umbilical cord, and most of the adverse perinatal outcomes were shown to be associated with abnormal values of the umbilical coiling index.