ROUTINE ULTRASONOGRAPHY INUTERO AND SUBSEQUENT GROWTH DURING CHILDHOOD

The study was performed to investigate any associations between routin e ultrasonography during pregnancy and subsequent growth during childh ood A follow-up was carried out of children born to women who took par t in two randomized, controlled trials of ultrasonic screening during pregnancy. From a total of 2428 eligible children, 2140 (88%) were fol lowed up with measurements of growth at Norwegian maternal and child h ealth centers. The body weight and height were recorded at birth and a t 3, 6 and 12 months of age; and subsequently at 2, 4 and 7 years of a ge. A repeated-measures analysis of growth was carried out, stratified by maternal smoking in a subsample of 1201 children. No significant d ifferences between ultrasound-screened children, and their controls, w ere found in mean body weight, or height, at birth and at all the subs equent visits to the health centers. However, the repeated-measures an alysis of variance in the subsample indicated that growth from birth t o 7 years of age differed significantly (p = 0.02) between screened an d control children of mothers who reported smoking at the first antena tal visit. We conclude that children who were routinely exposed to ult rasonography in utero showed no statistically significant differences in growth during childhood compared to control children.