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Nomograms of sonographic measurements throughout gestation of the fetal hard palate width, length and area
Author(s) -
Sherer D. M.,
Sokolovski M.,
Santoso P. G.,
Dalloul M.,
Abulafia O.
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
ultrasound in obstetrics and gynecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.202
H-Index - 141
eISSN - 1469-0705
pISSN - 0960-7692
DOI - 10.1002/uog.1063
Subject(s) - medicine , gestational age , fetus , gestation , ultrasound , nomogram , fetal head , circumference , obstetrics , nuclear medicine , pregnancy , radiology , mathematics , geometry , genetics , biology
Objective To assess the feasibility of sonographic depiction of the fetal hard palate and secondarily to create nomograms throughout gestation of its sonographic width, length and area. Methods This was a cross‐sectional study of pregnant patients between 15 and 41 weeks' gestation. Inclusion criteria consisted of well‐established dates (confirmed by early ultrasound), and singleton, non‐anomalous fetuses. Sonographic measurements obtained included biparietal diameter, head circumference, abdominal circumference and femur length. Fetal hard palate measurements included maximum width, maximum length and the calculated area. Tables were prepared depicting the estimated mean ± SD and 5 th , 50 th and 95 th centiles at each gestational week between 15 and 41 weeks. Pearson's correlation coefficient and associated P‐values for the relationships between fetal hard palate measurements and other sonographic measurements and coefficients of variation for each of the fetal hard palate measurements were calculated. Results The study included 602 consecutive patients. The mean maternal age was 28.7 ± 6.3 years, with median gravidity of 2 (range, 1–12) and parity 1 (range, 0–8). All attempts at obtaining fetal hard palate ultrasound measurements were successful. Mean fetal hard palate width (cm) = −0.73579345 + 0.11370432 × GA − 0.00083919 × GA 2 and SD = −0.017842055 + 0.005142475 × GA, where GA is gestational age in weeks. Mean fetal hard palate length (cm) = −0.82020463 + 0.11767777 × GA − 0.00092801 × GA 2 and SD = −0.043064317 + 0.006378869 × GA. Mean fetal hard palate area (cm 2 ) = −2.40090641 + 0.17136556 × GA + 0.00097308 × GA 2 and SD = −0.603647741 + 0.040740282 × GA. Sonographic measurements of the fetal hard palate width, length and area correlated significantly and strongly with gestational age (all P < 0.001) and significantly but less strongly with femur length ( P = 0.004). Conclusion The fetal hard palate may be depicted sonographically with relative ease between 15 and 41 weeks' gestation and measurements of the fetal hard palate width, length and area correlate well with gestational age, biparietal diameter, abdominal circumference, sonographic estimated fetal weight, and femur length. Copyright © 2004 ISUOG. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.