Identification of fetal growth retardation by ultrasonographic estimation of total intrauterine volume.

Recent literature has suggested that total intrauterine volume (TIUV) estimation is useful fir distinguishing normal from growth-retarded fetuses. One hundred seventy-nine measurements of TIUV were obtained from the ultrasonograms taken between 21 and 40 weeks of gestation in 140 patients who delivered average birthweight babies. We constructed a mean curve for TIUV with upper and lower 2.5 and 10% tolerance limits and later evaluated the TIUV's of 16 patients with growth-retarded fetuses. Nine of these fetuses had birthweights below the fifth percentile for gestational age, and in each of these pregnancies the TIUV ultimately fell below the lower 2.5% tolerance limit.