The Relationship between Modified Biophysical Profile, Standard Biophysical Profile, and Neonatal Outcomes of High-risk Pregnancies

Introduction: High-risk pregnancies can result in many complications for the fetus. In these pregnancies, different tests such as non-stress test (NST), biophysical profile (BPP), oxytocin contraction stress test (OCT), and Doppler sonography can be used to evaluate fetal health. As standard BBP requires more time and expertise, in this study, we evaluated the relationship between standard BPP, modified BPP, and neonatal outcomes. Therefore, in case there was a significant relationship, we could use modified BPP as a replacement for standard BPP.
Methods:Overall, 106 high-risk pregnant women in their third trimester, who were admitted to the gynecology ward of Imam Reza Hospital, were included in this study. Unless the subjects had any problems leading to emergent termination of pregnancy, standard BPP and modified BPP were concurrently performed to evaluate fetal health; these tests were repeated once or twice a week. In case of delivery, the last BPP scores (both standard and modified) were compared with the neonatal outcomes.
Results: In the evaluation of the last standard BPP scores, 83.1% and 16.9% of the patients obtained normal and abnormal scores, respectively; on the other hand, 73.6% and 26.4% of the patients obtained normal and abnormal scores in the last modified BPP, respectively. There was a significant relationship between neonatal outcomes and standard BPP results (P=0.05). Also, the relationship between standard BPP and modified BPP was significant (P=0.003). However, there was not a significant relationship between modified BPP and neonatal outcomes.
Conclusion: As the results indicated, modified BPP score had a significant relationship with standard BPP score, and standard BPP score had a significant correlation with neonatal outcomes. Therefore, the modified test can replace the difficult and time-consuming standard method. In addition, if the modified test showed any abnormalities, standard BPP or other fetal health evaluation methods should be applied.