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Objective. To assess fetal middle cerebral artery (MCA) peak systolic velocity (PSV) in cases of rhesus alloimmunization and to establish whether MCA-PSV is valid for the prediction of fetal anemia. Methods. The study population included 157 pregnant women diagnosed with rhesus alloimmunization. MCA-PSV measurements were obtained within 3 days of blood sampling for estimation of hemoglobin concentration either at delivery or cordocentesis by the same operator and by means of the same ultrasound machine using techniques described previously. To evaluate the measurements of the MCA-PSV as the multiples of median (MoM) for gestation we used original nomograms for various gestational ages derived from a group of 273 normal fetuses between 22 and 40 weeks of gestation, not at risk for anemia. Receiver-operator characteristic (ROC) curves were employed to evaluate the relation of the sensitivity (the true positive rate) and the false positive rate (100% specificity) of different threshold values of the MCA-PSV. Results. The sensitivity of the MCA-PSV was 94.4% in the case of the subgroup of fetuses with severe anemia. The sensitivity of the MCA-PSV test decreased in less anemic fetuses and was 77.3% in the subgroup with moderate anemia and 32% in the subgroup with mild anemia. According to ROC curves, we selected the optimal MCA-PSV threshold values of 1.15, 1.44, and 1.53 MoM for the prediction of mild, moderate, and severe anemia, respectively. Conclusions. MCA-PSV is a significant Doppler index valid for the prediction of moderate and severe fetal anemia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Objective: To compare the diagnostic accuracy of ultrasound (US) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the preoperative assessment of early-stage cervical cancer using pathologic findings as the reference standard. Patients and methods: Prospective multi-center trial enrolling 209 consecutive women with early-stage cervical cancer (FIGO IA2–IIA) scheduled for surgery. The following parameters were assessed on US and MRI and compared to pathology: remaining tumor, size, tumor stromal invasion<2/3 (superficial) or ≥2/3 (deep), and parametrial invasion. Results: Complete data were available for 182 patients. The agreement between US and pathology was excellent for detecting tumors, correctly classifying bulky tumors (>4cm), and detecting deep stromal invasion (kappa values 0.84, 0.82, and 0.81 respectively); and good for classifying small tumors (<2cm) and detecting parametrial invasion (kappa values 0.78 and 0.75, respectively). The agreement between MRI and histology was good for classifying tumors as <2cm, or >4cm, and detecting deep stromal invasion (kappa values 0.71, 0.76, and 0.77, respectively). It was moderately accurate in tumor detection, and in assessing parametrial invasion (kappa values 0.52 and 0.45, respectively). The agreement between histology and US was significantly better in assessing residual tumor (p <0.001) and parametrial invasion (p <0.001) than the results obtained by MRI. Imaging methods were not significantly influenced by previous cone biopsy. Conclusion: US and MRI are highly accurate for the preoperative assessment of women with early-stage cervical cancer, although US may be more accurate in detecting residual tumors and assessing parametrial invasion. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]