Ultrasonographic Assessment of Fetal Weight and its Correlation with Actual Birth Weight in Pakistani Population

Abstract

Objectives: To assess the accuracy of ultrasonographic estimation of fetal weight and its correlation with actual birth weight in Pakistani population.  

Subjects and Methods: This cross sectional study was conducted in departments of Radiology and Obstetrics & Gynecology, Sargodha Medical College, DHQ hospital Sargodha, from January 2021 to August 2021. Pregnant women of age between 18-40 years were selected for the study. Toshiba Xario with convex transducer 3-6 Mhz was used. The Hadlock 3 method was used to compute the foetal weight, which included ultrasonographic values of biparietal diameter (BPD), abdominal circumference (AC), and femur length (FL). The correlation of estimated foetal weight through ultrasound and actual birth weight was identified through pearson correlation coefficient.

Results: The mean age of the mothers was 28.45 ± 5.45 years and mean parity of 2.7 ± 1.6. The mean gestational age was 38.55 ± 1.25 weeks. The mean value of mean bipartial diameter was 93.65 ± 0.85 mm. The mean values of femur length and abdominal circumference were noted to be (77.45 ±1.05 mm) and (326.15 ± 9.75 mm). The mean value of actual birth weight was a bit higher (3.115 ± 0.432 vs. 3.088 ± 0.397 kg) than sonographically estimated fetal weight but this difference was not statistically (P-value > 0.05) significant. A strong and positive correlation (r = 0.93, P-value < 0.01) was found between ultrasound estimated fetal weight and actual birth weight of the babies.

Conclusion: A strong and positive correlation was found between ultrasound estimated fetal weight and actual birth weight of the babies. Estimated fetal weight based on multiple fetal parameters gives reliable and clinically useful information for most pregnant women.