In utero exposure to diagnostic ultrasound: a 6-year follow-up.

A 6-year follow-up study of height and weight was conducted between 1975 and 1983 in a total of 149 sibling pairs of the same sex, one of whom had been exposed to diagnostic ultrasound in utero. The data were analyzed for the entire sample group, as well as for subgroups defined by sex, gestational age at delivery, birth order, and gestational age at time of first exposure to ultrasound. No statistically significant differences of head circumference at birth or of height and weight between birth and 6 years of age were found between ultrasound-exposed and unexposed siblings. In our sample population, exposure of fetuses to ultrasound did not significantly affect growth in childhood up to 6 years of age.