Assessment of Fetal Size and Growth Rate by Ultrasonic Echoscopy

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

Ultrasonic measurements of the size of the fetal head and trunk permit a fairly accurate estimate of gestational age in the middle trimester of pregnancy. Serial ultrasonic measurement of fetal size records fetal growth rate, which is of help in the management of gravidas with a history of previous intrauterine death, suspected placental insufficiency and, perhaps, diabetes mellitus. Small-for-dates or dysmature babies have been shown to acquire their low birth weight by one of two methods: either they grow at an evenly slow rate throughout pregnancy, or they grow normally to a point in the third trimester, after which growth stops altogether or proceeds at a much slower rate than normal.