Abstract
Author(s): Mai Raafat Hussein, Noura Soliman Mohammed, Ihab Ibrahim Samaha, Hossam Elsayed Abdelmgeed, Karim AbdelSalam*
Background: Reducing postdate pregnancies improves maternal and fetal health and lowers complications, and accurate gestational age (GA) estimation is essential for this. In order to estimate gestational age (GA) in the second and third trimesters, this study sought to ascertain how accurate ultrasound is at measuring fetal kidney length (FKL). The actual GA obtained from a reliable last menstrual period was compared with FKL along with other fetal growth measures such as Biparietal diameter (BPD), head circumference (HC), abdominal circumference (AC), and femur length (FL). Methods: The 58 pregnant women in this prospective observational study, who ranged in age from 18 to 40, GA between 20-40 weeks, singleton pregnancy, the last 3 cycles before pregnancy were regular and no hormonal contraception in the preceded 3 cycles. All patients were subjected to two-dimensional ultrasound examination. Results: Gestational age (GA) assessed via ultrasound in the second and third trimesters, fetal kidney length (FKL), and the last menstrual period (LMP) all showed a strong positive correlation. In addition, biparietal diameter (BPD), femur length (FL), head circumference (HC), and abdominal circumference (AC) were positively associated with GA. FL, BPD, and FKL were also found to be independent predictors of GA. Conclusions: FKL can thus serve as an accurate tool for GA estimation late in the second and third trimesters.