HUMAN FETAL SOMATIC AND VISCERAL MORPHOMETRICS

Because of the increasing prenatal use of high-resolution ultrasonogra phy to assess fetal growth and because growth aberration is one of the principal manifestations of abnormal intrauterine development, a more precise definition of normal growth is desirable. Our data set from a utopsies of fetuses/neonates (50-4,000 g), collected with systematic a ttention to precision of measurement, is analyzed and presented. Previ ous computations of fetal growth curves appear to overstate the variat ion about the mean. Through the identification and exclusion of outlie rs and the use of appropriate curve fitting techniques, the problem of overestimation of variation about the mean has been largely eliminate d. The new growth standards we present can be used to assess aberratio n from proportional growth and correlate it with gestational circumsta nces and particular morphological features of the fetus. (C) 1994 Wile y-Liss, Inc.