Fetal biometry in different ethnic groups

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine whether differences in ul trasound-measured fetal biometry exist between pregnant woman of autochthon ous Belgian origin and migrant women from Morocco and Turkey. Method: A pro spective cross-sectional study was performed in which fetal biparietal diam eter, head circumference, abdominal circumference and femur length were mea sured in pregnant women presenting between 18 and 40 weeks of gestation. Fe tal weight was calculated using the formulae by Shepard and Hadlock. Only u ncomplicated singleton pregnancies with a certain date of the last menstrua l period, confirmed by early ultrasound, were included. The father of the c hild had to be of the same ethnic origin as the mother. Polynomial regressi on of the different measurements was performed for women of autochthonous B elgian origin and for migrant women from Morocco and from Turkey. Results: Singleton fetuses numbering 524 were examined, including 369 Belgian, 78 Mo roccan and 77 Turkish. Polynomial regression was performed for the three gr oups for the biparietal diameter, head circumference, abdominal circumferen ce, femur length and estimated fetal weight. No significant difference betw een the three different ethnic groups could be demonstrated for the biparie tal diameter (P = 0.39). There was a significant difference for the head ci rcumference (P = 0.017), the abdominal circumference (P = 0.0015), the femu r length (P = 0.0014) and the estimated fetal weight for both formulae (She pard P = 0.047; Hadlock P = 0.0006). Conclusion: In this set of cross-secti onal data no significant difference for ultrasound-measured fetal biparieta l diameter between autochthonous Belgian women and migrant women from Moroc co and from Turkey could be demonstrated. Differences do exist for the head circumference, the abdominal circumference, the femur length and the estim ated fetal weight. The use of adapted charts of fetal size for pregnant wom en of Turkish or Moroccan origin should be considered. (C) 2000 Elsevier Sc ience Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.