Uterine artery - high PI resistance/bilateral notches

[LouiseofChalky]

Hi there

I would be grateful for any thoughts/experiences that you may be able to share.

I have recently been for my 20w scan and was told that I have bilateral notching and high PI resistance in both arteries flowing to the placenta. Other than this the sonographer seemed to suggest that baby was healthy and of a normal size but I will need to go for growth scans at 28, 32 and 36 weeks.

Apparently this notching can potentially increase the risk of preeclampsia and or having a baby with low birth weight.
I am a naturally anxious person and this news has worried me a little, not least because my Dr didn’t explain it all too well so I am relying on my own research!

I would be grateful if anyone could share their experiences if they’ve had something similar. I presume there’s nothing I can do to improve this naturally?

Many thanks in advance if you have any information that will help me better understand this.

I was told this too at my 20 week scan. Like you, I still don't really understand much about it.

I had my first growth scan last week at 25 weeks and the baby is still growing as expected on the 50th percentile.
The consultant did say that 9 times out of 10, the notching causes no issues at all but they like to keep an eye on it

Thanks Relax12 and pleased to hear your growth scan went well. That information from the Dr sounds very positive!
My problem was that my sonographer didn’t explain it at all well to me but just told me about the worst case scenario.

I had this identified at my 12 week scan. As far as I understand it, it’s indicative that your body is resisting blood flow to the placenta, the possible results being IUGR, early placental failure and pre-eclampsia, hence the growth scans etc. I was told I was high risk for pre-eclampsia and delivery before 28 weeks, put on 150mg aspirin every night to improve blood flow and left the scan completely terrified - particularly as I’ve always had low blood pressure so absolutely did not see this coming.

Anyway, I subsequently saw a consultant who was completely unconcerned by it, explained that ‘high risk’ in my case meant 1 in 95 chance, which is also significantly lowered by the aspirin, and so in his view I was highly unlikely to develop PE. I think the risk is worked out by combining bloods with the uterine artery measure. I had the artery dopplers done again at 24 weeks and they were fine. I’m now 28 weeks, my blood pressure is still low, and I’m no longer worried about it. Plus I get extra scans so if something does start to go wrong hopefully it will be picked up quickly.

I think you need to start aspirin by 14 weeks for it to be useful, but may be worth checking. But in any event, try not to worry too much (I know how hard that is); a bit of information in these circumstances is often a lot more worrying than the full picture.

I realise this is quite an old thread , but just posting for those who , like me might be frantically googling after getting a high PI resistance reading (mine was in the top 95%) at a 20 week scan.

After the sonographer explained my high numbers at the end of the scan, she simply told us not to worry and not to google - baby looks fine and it just puts you at slightly higher risk for preeccampsia and restricted grown of baby. Obviously at the first opportunity we googled away, having not really been able to digest what we were told in the scan and needing more context and info. Needless to say google painted a pretty bleak picture and we were imagining lots of worst case scenarios.

Anyway, we booked a private scan , at The Birth Company for two weeks later, which we've just arrived back from. All the PI resistance readings are now within normal range, the baby has grown and they've said there is absolutely nothing to be concerned about. We've a consultation with a doctor there tomorrow too to discuss further.

I just wanted to share this as I know how scary it can be to not know if something is wrong or not and to imagine the worst.

I would really recommend, if you're in a financial position to do so, to have a scan privately a few weeks later to save yourself weeks of stress and worry.

The NHS should revise how they share this information and provide much more in the way of data instead of just saying don't google - doesn't really demonstrate a clear understanding of how human beings work!!