French fetal biometry: reference equations and comparison with other charts.

OBJECTIVES

To construct new reference charts and equations for fetal biparietal diameter (BPD), head circumference (HC), abdominal circumference (AC) and femur length (FL), using a large sample of fetuses examined at 15-40 weeks in France, and to compare them with previous references.

METHODS

The study data were obtained over a continuous 1-year period from a population of pregnant women undergoing ultrasound examination. Excluded were those with a known abnormal karyotype or congenital malformation, multiple pregnancies, and those with no first-trimester dating based on crown-rump length. No fetuses were excluded on the basis of abnormal biometry or birth weight. For each measurement, separate regression models were fitted to estimate both the mean and the SD at each gestational age.

RESULTS

Full biometric measurements were obtained for 19 647 fetuses. New charts and reference equations are reported for BPD, HC, AC and FL. Prediction intervals for the new reference charts were similar to those of previous ones, whereas there were some differences in predicted centiles.

CONCLUSION

We present new French reference charts and equations for fetal biometry. They can be used easily to compute centiles and Z-scores to control the quality of biometric assessments and to evaluate their performance relative to other references.