Biochemical studies on the effects of diagnostic ultrasound on early chorionic villi

Ultrasound is a major tool for clinical diagnosis, especially during prenatal life. Macintosh and Davie (1970) published a paper purporting to show chromosome aberrations induced by an ultrasound fetal pulse detector. Therefore, the question of the potential safety of diagnostic ultrasound had been raised. The biological systems have been examined to date include insects, plants, cell suspensions and intact small mammals, but the relevance of these results to the intact human must be regarded as extremely questionable. This paper investigated some biochemical changes of chorionic villi in early pregnancy 24 hour after direct exposure to diagnostic ultrasound for 15 min in utero. The levels of lipid peroxide product (malondialdhyde, MDA), content of cyclic AMP and phospholipid, and glutathione peroxidase activity were measured. NO significant difference was observed between the exposed and control group for the biological parameters mentioned above.