Objective  To explore the clinical value of ultrasound detection of umbilical artery (UA) and middle cerebral artery (MCA) in predicting respiratory distress in children with umbilical cord around neck in late pregnancy.

Methods  A total of 385 pregnant women with late pregnancy who met inclusion and exclusion criteria were selected as research subjects. According to the pregnancy outcome and diagnostic criteria for fetal distress, the pregnant women were divided into distress group (n=102) and normal group (n=283). The hemodynamic levels of UA and MCA were compared between the two groups, the Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve was used to analyze the indicators with statistically significant differences, and their diagnostic efficacy was compared.

Results  The value of UA resistance index (UA-RI) in the distress group was significantly higher than that in the normal group, and the value of MCA resistance index (MCA-RI) in the distress group was significantly lower than that in the normal group (P < 0.05). The ratio of RI of MCA and UA(UA/MCA-RI)in the distress group was higher than that in the normal group (P < 0.05). According to ROC curve, the critical value of UA-RI was 0.67, the corresponding sensitivity was 74.51%, the specificity was 85.16%, and the area under the ROC curve was 0.798 (95%CI, 0.750 to 0.846). The critical value of MCA-RI was 0.86, the corresponding sensitivity was 77.45%, the specificity was 84.45%, and the area under the ROC curve was 0.802 (95%CI, 0.758 to 0.846). The critical value of UA/MCA-RI was 0.71, the corresponding sensitivity was 90.20%, the specificity was 91.87%, and area under the ROC curve was 0.902 (95%CI, 0.832 to 0.972.

Conclusion  UA-RI and MCA-RI are of great value in the clinical diagnosis of fetal distress, and the combined detection of UA/MCA-RI has higher diagnostic efficiency.