To evaluate the clinical value of ultrasound diagnosis of fetal distress with oligohydramnios by monitoring aortic isthmus (AOI) blood flow profile.

From March to November 2019, 83 cases of oligohydramnios were examined by ultrasound at the First Affiliated Hospital of Hebei North University, and they were divided into either a distress group (64 cases) or a non-distress group (19 cases). Two hundred fetuses with normal amniotic fluid volume were selected as a control group. Fetal AOI blood flow profiles were obtained in the three groups to observe whether diastolic blood flow was absent or reversed. Fetal systolic and diastolic flow velocity-time integrals were measured to calculate and type isthmus flow index (IFI). Analysis of variance was used to compare the IFI differences among the three groups, the LSD-t test was used to compare the IFI differences between two groups, and the difference of IFI classification between the three groups was compared by the χ² tests.

The IFI in the distress group was lower than those in the control group and the non-distress group (0.16±1.09 vs 1.21±0.05 and 1.19±0.06, t=13.773 and 7.543, P<0.05 for both), but there was no significant difference between the non-distress group and the control group (P>0.05). The rate of the diastolic fetal AOI blood flow disappearance or reversal in the distress group was higher than those in the control group and the non-distress group (68.42% vs 1.56% and 0, χ²=89.822 and 55.710, P<0.05 for both), though there was no significant difference between the non-distress group and the control group (P>0.05). The types of IFI in the non-distress group and the control group were all type I, and the difference between them was not statistically significant (P>0.05). Compared with the control group and the non-distress group, the types of IFI in the distress group were type I (8 cases), type II (7 cases), and type III (4 cases); the differences were statistically significant (χ²= 44.556 and 26.118, P<0.05 for both).

Monitoring blood flow profile of the fetal AOI can be used to evaluate fetal distress with oligohydramnios and guide clinicians to take effective intervention measures promptly.