Dear AuntMinnie Member,
Doppler ultrasound of the uterine artery can help clinicians predict future complications in high-risk pregnancies, according to a German study we're featuring this week in our Ultrasound Digital Community.
The researchers employed Doppler ultrasound to examine the modality's value in predicting severe complications in both high-risk and low-risk pregnancies, according to staff writer Erik L. Ridley.
The modality showed its greatest utility in the high-risk group, and the researchers found two key parameters that can be indicators of future problems if they show up on Doppler ultrasound scans. Doppler US wasn't as useful in the low-risk group, however.
The researchers concluded that conducting a Doppler uterine artery scan at the same time a fetal anomaly scan is performed can be an effective way to tailor antenatal care for pregnant women based on their risk profile. Read all about it by clicking here.
Ultrasound also got a big boost this week from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, which issued a recommendation calling for the use of the modality to screen older men who have smoked for abdominal aortic aneurysm. Could ultrasound join mammography as the next big screening modality? Find out by clicking here.
![Examples of ultrasound findings and techniques. (A) Images in a 39-year-old male patient with a mass in the left thigh. The mass is heterogeneous on the B-mode US image (compared with the patient in D) and showed increased microvascularity (superb microvascular imaging [SMI]) and shear-wave elastography (SWE) values. Undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma was diagnosed at biopsy (with pleomorphic rhabdomyosarcoma in surgical specimen). (B) Images in an 18-year-old male patient with a mass in the left leg. The mass is hypoechoic on the B-mode image, with no other findings suggestive of malignancy. The lesion is in contact with the cortex of the tibia, which is slightly irregular. CT revealed a doubtful anteromedial tibial erosion. The microvascular study demonstrated high vascularization, suggestive of malignancy. Periosteal Ewing sarcoma was diagnosed with both histologic and immunohistochemical confirmation. (C) Images in a 69-year-old female patient with a lump growing on the outside of the left leg. Multiple SWE examinations were performed (please note the high values obtained in the measurements, whereas the color map highlights the stiffness relative to adjacent tissues). SMI showed areas of increased vascularization to target for sampling. Undifferentiated spindle cell sarcoma was diagnosed at biopsy, with residual leiomyosarcoma in the surgical specimen after neoadjuvant therapy. (D) Images in a 56-year-old female patient with a mass in the right thigh. The mass is heterogeneous at both B-mode ultrasound (similar to patient A) and MRI (coronal T2-weighted spectral attenuated inversion recovery [SPAIR]; T1-weighted pre-contrast and postcontrast imaging), which even shows uptake after the administration of paramagnetic contrast material, which is traditionally suggestive of malignancy. Low values at SMI and elastography are suggestive of benignity. Spindle cell lipoma was diagnosed at biopsy, with atypical spindle cell lipomatous tumor in the surgical specimen.](https://img.auntminnie.com/mindful/smg/workspaces/default/uploads/2026/08/images-radiol250278fig2.APCFLSvX6p.jpg?auto=format%2Ccompress&dpr=2&fit=crop&h=167&q=70&w=250)
