FETAL WEIGHT ESTIMATION BY ECHO-PLANAR MAGNETIC-RESONANCE-IMAGING

Fetal weight was estimated in utero in eleven singleton pregnancies by measurement of fetal volume with echo-planar imaging (EPI), a form of magnetic resonance imaging, and by ultrasound measurements. EPI estim ates of fetal volume were closely correlated with actual birthweight ( R = 0.97). The median difference (expressed as a percentage of actual birthweight) between actual and EPI-estimated birthweights was 3.0% (r ange 0.6-9.9); this discrepancy was significantly smaller than that fo und for ultrasonographic estimates (6.5%[1.7-17.8]; p < 0.01).