RESUMO
The carotid piezogram is a very simple test. The graph illustrates the elasticity of the arteries and the peripheral resistance. It is the best way of evaluating the vascular state of the pregnant woman when vascul-renal syndromes occur in pregnancy. The authors have studied three elements in the graph and their modifications resulting from the different types of vasculo-renal syndromes. The piezogram is a valuable test for fetal prognosis: the degree of hypotrophy and the risk of fetal death. Furthermore the piezogram sometimes may be the only alarm signal before the other clinical or paraclinical features for prognosis occur. In any case the piezogram give the best information. Furthermore, it can uncover the rise in peripheral resistance which is the cause of certain fetal hypotrophies when nothing else would point to the vascular system being affected. Often an abnormal piezogram is found for the first time in pregnancy and the graph becomes normal in the months after delivery. Pregnancy may be considered as a "test for vascular function" when vascular functional troubles will show up for a short time, not to declare themselves again for perhaps another ten to twenty years. The piezogram therefore is very valuable as a long-term prognostic tool for the mother.
