Head circumference measurement by ultrasound and its efficacy in estimating the gestational age

Hisham Al-Hammami

Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Syrian Private University, Damascus, Syrian Arab Republic

Refer this article

Hisham Al-Hammami, 2018. Head circumference measurement by ultrasound and its efficacy in estimating the gestational age. Journal of medical pharmaceutical and allied sciences, V 7 - I 1, Pages -615 – 622. Doi: https://doi.org/10.55522/jmpas.V7I1.0163.

ABSTRACT

This research aimed to determine the efficacy of Head Circumference (HC) by ultrasound in estimating the Gestational Age (GA) compared to GA by Naegele’s rule using Last m enstrual period (LMP) date. Materials and Methods: This was a prospective observational study of women with a normal spontaneously conceived viable singleton pregnancy, a regular menstrual cycle, and spontaneous onset of labor at term. The LMP was considered certain in all cases. We used ultrasound to scan 2067 fetuses (894 healthy women) and we had 1553 Head circumference (HC) measurements. Data were collected prospectively and used for statistical analysis. We used Descriptive Statistics to calculate the Mean, Standard Deviation (SD), Median and Percentiles values (3rd, 5th, 10th, 50th, 90th, 95th, and 97th) for HC measurements on gestational age. We found a regression equation to estimate the GA using HC measurements. The results of the current study were compared with different studies using the Paired Differences (t-test analysis). These results can be useful in women who cannot recall their last menstrual period (LMP). Our criteria will provide useful references for estimating gestational age and fetal care. A larger study might be needed to include a larger sample of the population.

Keywords:

Fetal growth, Confidence interval, Gestational age, Concordant pregnancy, Ultrasound.

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