Color Doppler flow of umbilical cord vessels

(A) Normal three-vessel umbilical cord. Color Doppler shows presence of two umbilical arteries, one on each side of the bladder.

(B) Two-vessel umbilical cord. Color Doppler images show alternating single artery and vein.

(C) Two-vessel umbilical cord. Transverse view at the level of the fetal bladder shows an artery on only one side of the fetal bladder.

Courtesy of Deborah Levine, MD and Bryann Bromley, MD.

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