Analysis of fetal biometric measurements in the last 30 years

Objectives. To compare fetal biometric measurements with standard growth charts for ultrasound parameters existing from the last 30 years. Study design. A preliminary prospective study. Setting. Artemisia Mean Centre of Perinatal Diagnosis, Rome, Italy. Material and method. A cross sectional study involving 1000 pregnant women with uncomplicated singleton pregnancy between 14th and 41th weeks of gestation from 1 January to 30 June 2008. All recruited pregnant women enrolled had an abdominal ultrasonography for fetal biometry. For each measurement, regression models were fitted to estimate the mean and SD. The results were compared with existing references from the last 30 years using Student’s T distribution. Moreover, neonatal weights were obtained from 1977 to 2008 by ISTAT. Results. One thousand normal fetuses from pregnant women, between 22th and 23th weeks, between 32th and 33th weeks and at 38th week, were thoroughly measured. There were significant differences from the comparison with our data for each gestational age: femur length and homer length, abdominal circumference, head circumference and occipito-frontal diameter were longer than all parameters of existing references from the last 30 years. The analysis of neonatal weights on ISTAT data from 1977 to 2007 demonstrated a significant increment through the years. Conclusion. Fetus is grown up across the years. It is necessary to modify the standard growth charts for ultrasound parameters existing from the last 30 years with actually fetal biometric measurements. It is helpful for a correct clinical approach and for an appropriate management mother-fetus