Abstract
OBJECTIVES: The purpose of the work is to measure placental elasticity in pregnant women with hypothyroidism by shear wave elastography (SWE), and to evaluate the clinical value of SWE on placental function in pregnant women with hypothyroidism. METHODS: In total, 57 Hypothyroidism (Hypothyroidism group) and 74 normal control women (NC group) who received antenatal examination in our hospital from February 2024 to November 2024. Placental mean elasticity (E-mean), mean shear wave velocities (SWV-mean), uterine artery/umbilical arteries related parameters (UtA/UmbA-PI/RI/S/D) were measured. The pregnancy outcomes of pregnant women were followed up. The correlation between E-mean and preterm birth, uterine/umbilical artery parameters was analyzed. Meanwhile, the Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve was used to analyze the predictive power of E-mean on placental function. RESULTS: There were significant difference in E-mean, SWV-mean,UtA -PI,UtA -RI,UtA -S/D between the Hypothyroidism group and the NC group (PE-mean/PSMV-mean/PUtA-PI/PUtA-RI/PtA-S/D=0.023/0.013/0.047/0.038/0.025).The most effective parameter for evaluating placental function was the E-mean (AUC = 0.86). E-mean was positively correlated with the incidence of preterm birth and UtA-PI, UtA- RI, UtA-S/D, but not significantly correlated with low-birth-weight infants and fetal distress. Compared with the NC group, pregnant women with hypothyroidism had a higher incidence of premature birth. CONCLUSIONS: The hardness of the placenta could be quantitatively evaluated by SWE. E-mean was the most effective parameter for evaluating placental function in pregnant women with hypothyroidism during late pregnancy. Pregnant women with hypothyroidism had greater placental hardness and a higher incidence of premature birth.