Nontraditional sonographic pearls in estimating gestational age.

Full Abstract

Accurate gestational dating is one of the most important assessments obstetrical providers make in pregnancy, given that all of the various management strategies are dependent on knowing where the patient is in gestation. In addition to traditional biometry, ancillary biometric and nonbiometric measurements can help narrow the biologic variability between fetuses. Moreover, one can employ these nontraditional measurements both in late gestation to assist in determining appropriate gestational age and fetal lung maturity, and in other specific clinical situations-such as oligohydramnios, in which compression of the fetal head and abdomen can lead to difficulty in obtaining an accurate biparietal diameter and abdominal circumference. This chapter focuses on nontraditional fetal ultrasound measurements, including the transverse cerebellar diameter, fetal foot length, ratios of biometric and nonbiometric measurements, epiphyseal ossification centers, amniotic fluid volume, placental grading, and other miscellaneous markers in the context of evaluating a fetus with possible intrauterine growth restriction.

Author information

Author/s: Gottlieb, Amy G (AG); Galan, Henry L (HL);

Affiliation: Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, UCDHSC, Academic Office 1, 12631 East 17th Avenue, Rm 4001, Aurora, CO 80045, USA. Amy.Gottlieb(-atsign-)uchsc.edu

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Review

Journal: Seminars in perinatology (Semin Perinatol), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2008-Jun; vol 32 (issue 3) : pp 154-60

Dates: Created 2008/05/16; Completed 2008/09/30;

PMID: 18482614, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 2/18/2009, IMS Date: )

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

External Links for this article
(including full text providers, if available):

Click Electronic Full-text Provider Links to see options for finding the electronic full text links to this article. Note there may be a subscription or fee required for access to the full text. See our FAQ for information on finding FREE full text articles.

This article may also be located in paper journal collections available in many libraries. Use the Journal and Publication Information above to find the full article.