SCAPULA LENGTH MEASUREMENT FOR ASSESSMENT OF FETAL GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT

To determine the value of prenatal ultrasonographic scapula measuremen ts for fetal growth and development as an adjunct to assessing in uter o development, a prospective study of ultrasonography was conducted in 343 pregnant women with uneventful pregnancies with gestational ages from 16 to 41 weeks, and several biometric measurements were obtained. The relationships of scapula length with gestational age and with bip arietal diameter, femur length, abdominal circumference and scapul len gth were examined. With the ultrasonographic examinations of 343 healt hy pregnant women, a nomogram of scapula length measurements estimatin g gestational age and predicting the biparietal diameter, abdominal ci rcumference, and femur length was generated. Linear relationships were found between the scapula length and the gestational age (R(2) = 0.94 , p < 0.0001), the biparietal diameter (R(2) = 0.94, p < 0.0001), abdo minal circumference (R(2) = 0.94, P < 0.0001), and the femur length (R (2) = 0.95, p < 0.0001). The rate of increase of scapula length was si gnificantly higher before 28 weeks of gestation than in later pregnanc y (p < 0.0001). The correlation coefficients between gestational age a nd scapula length were 0.95 before 28 weeks of gestation and 0.86 in l ater weeks. These results suggest that scapula length measurement is a valuable parameter for the assessment of fetal growth and development .