Umbilical venous pulsation and regional circulatory disturbance

The umbilical cord conditions at the point where regional umbilical venous pulsation occurred were examined in 15 patients between the 28th and 40th gestational week, The patients delivered appropriate-for-date infants without anomalies, Regional venous pulsation was observed in cases of large-angle cord winding (especially more than 60 degrees). It was also observed where the umbilical cord was compressed by the fetus, uterine wall or placenta, even if the umbilical cord was straight, From these findings, we concluded that regional umbilical venous pulsation is the result of regional circulatory disturbance of the umbilical cord. (C) 1997 World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology.