Avaliação ultrassonográfica de idade gestacional e de estresse fetal em cadelas atendidas no HV/UFPB

Abstract

Ultrasonography is considered a vastly important tool, providing high-precision gestational diagnosis starting from 30 days post-copulation. Beyond pregnancy diagnosis, viability evaluation and gestational age, the ultrasonographic exam allows monitoring of skeletal development, tissues and vital organs, as well as problems like malformations, death and fetal stress. The goal of this work consisted in analyzing if there is a difference in fetal growth in bitches with viable fetuses or retained dead fetuses, using the measurement of the biparietal diameter, as well as evaluating if there are differences between the presence of fetal stress in late gestations with live fetuses, taking into account the gestational age stipulated on the measurements of biparietal diameter and measuring the cardiac frequency of the fetuses obtained in the ultrasonographic exams performed on pregnant bitches. Data was collected pertaining to the treatment of 17 bitches with C-section indication from the clinic section of small animals of UFPB’s veterinary hospital. The data is comprised of: the number of fetuses, fetal stage, gestational age, clinical history, and biparietal diameter for estimation of fetal age and fetal cardiac frequency. There were differences in fetal growth on bitches with viable fetuses or retained dead fetuses, using the biparietal diameter as a base, when compared to bitches with a gestational age of 64 days or above 64 days, with the latter showing fetuses with higher DBP. There were more occurrences of fetal stress on late gestations with alive fetuses, when measuring fetuses' cardiac frequency in pregnant bitches with gestational age above 64 days, in comparison to that with up to 64 days of gestation.