The influence of fetal position on nuchal translucency thickness.

OBJECTIVE

To determine whether nuchal translucency thickness is influenced by the fetal position at ultrasound examination.

SUBJECTS

Transabdominal ultrasound examination for pregnancy dating and measurement of nuchal translucency thickness was performed at 10-14 weeks' gestation in all women attending the antenatal clinic of our hospital. During the examination special attention was paid to a change in fetal position from prone to supine or vice versa.

METHODS

For each fetus the nuchal translucency measurement was repeated when a positional change from prone to supine or vice versa was recorded. All measurements were recorded on hard copy. An image-scoring method was used and evaluated by three independent reviewers.

RESULTS

Eighty-five fetuses were included in this study. The mean nuchal translucency for supine fetuses was 1.91 mm compared with 1.93 mm for prone fetuses. The mean quality-score was 6.54 for supine fetuses and 6.55 for prone fetuses. This difference was not statistically significant.

CONCLUSION

Fetal position has no influence on the measurement of nuchal translucency.