Ultrasound estimation of gestational age.

Many ultrasonologists feel that if they are unable to obtain a BPD measurement at the time of an ultrasound examination that they have somehow failed to do an adequate job. However, from the information outlined in this chapter, it can be seen that the biparietal diameter is only one measurement that can be taken of the fetus in order to estimate gestational age. Furthermore, since the recognition of variability in fetal head shape, absolute reliance on measurement of the fetal biparietal diameter for estimation of gestational age has become much less common, especially after 20 weeks of gestation. The move toward measurement of several parts of the fetal anatomy has been called fetal biometry. The purpose of this approach is to evaluate body proportion and symmetry of growth of different organ systems, in the hope of elucidating subtle patterns which might be recognized as abnormal in very early stages when some form of prenatal management might improve reproductive outcome. Simultaneously, with the implementation of this approach to estimating age, a desire to inject an element of "quality control" into the obstetric ultrasound examination has come about. It has been found that measurement of more than one fetal parameter, in a sense, prevents overreliance on any single measurement, which, by itself, might mislead the clinician. While an error of clinically significant magnitude can be made in any measurement, it is unlikely that an error of the same magnitude, in "the same direction" of over or underestimation of the actual, would occur. Thus, there is an element of protection of the patient built into this approach which makes it appealing intuitively. However, it is uncertain that measurement of BPD, head circumference, abdominal circumference, and femur length will, in all cases, give a better estimate of gestational age than will measurement of the BPD alone. Recent data from Hadlock et al. showed that in 177 normal pregnancies, there was significant improvement in the ultrasound estimation of estimated date of delivery when two or more parameters were used to make that estimate rather than just BPD alone. Prior to 36 weeks, the optimal combination of parameters included the biparietal diameter, the abdominal circumference, and the femur length. However, after 36 weeks, the head circumference, abdominal circumference, and femur length gave the best estimate, with significant reduction in the mean errors, standard deviations, and size of maximum errors. Thus, it appears that the estimate using MFGP is both more accurate and precise than a single measurement.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)