Umbilical Cord Coiling Index at Term Gestation and Its Association with Perinatal Outcomes

Background : Umbilical coiling index (UCI) is the number of coils in the cord divided by the cord length in centimeters. .On the basis of UCI umbilical cords have been grouped as: hypocoiled,( UCI Less than 10 th percentile ) normocoiled ( UCI between 10th–90 th percentile) and hypercoiled (UCI More than 90 th percentile).Various reports have shown that abnormal coiling index is associated with adverse perinatal outcomes.There is a wide variations among the various studies done so far. Some studies have reported significant association between abnormal UCI and adverse perinatal outcomes whereas few studies did not show significant association. Material & Methods: This prospective study was conducted on 200 randomly selected Indian pregnant women with singleton pregnancy at POG ≥37 weeks.The UCI less than 10th percentile and more than 90th percentile were considered as hypocoiled and hypercoiled respectively Then association between abnormal UCI and intrapartum events (fetal heart rate (FHR) abnormality, meconium stained liquor, mode of delivery )and neonatal outcome ( birth weight, IUGR,Apgar score and need for NICU admission ) were evaluated. Results & Conclusion The mean UCI was 0.21 ± 0.08 coils /cms. (9.50%) coils were hypocoiled 81%) were, normocoiled and hypercoiled were (9.50%). No statistically significant association was found between abnormal coiling and perinatal outcomes.