Accuracy of fetal ultrasound dating

How accurate are fetal ultrasounds for determining due dates, size, sex, birth defects, and miscarriage? What do you need to know about false.
Table of contents

Because this practice assumes a regular menstrual cycle of 28 days, with ovulation occurring on the 14th day after the beginning of the menstrual cycle, this practice does not account for inaccurate recall of the LMP, irregularities in cycle length, or variability in the timing of ovulation. It has been reported that approximately one half of women accurately recall their LMP 2—4.

Accurate determination of gestational age can positively affect pregnancy outcomes. For instance, one study found a reduction in the need for postterm inductions in a group of women randomized to receive routine first-trimester ultrasonography compared with women who received only second-trimester ultrasonography 5. A Cochrane review concluded that ultrasonography can reduce the need for postterm induction and lead to earlier detection of multiple gestations 6.

Because decisions to change the EDD significantly affect pregnancy management, their implications should be discussed with patients and recorded in the medical record.

How is an ultrasound performed?

Measurements of the CRL are more accurate the earlier in the first trimester that ultrasonography is performed 11, 15— The measurement used for dating should be the mean of three discrete CRL measurements when possible and should be obtained in a true midsagittal plane, with the genital tubercle and fetal spine longitudinally in view and the maximum length from cranium to caudal rump measured as a straight line 8, Mean sac diameter measurements are not recommended for estimating the due date.

Dating changes for smaller discrepancies are appropriate based on how early in the first trimester the ultrasound examination was performed and clinical assessment of the reliability of the LMP date Table 1. For instance, the EDD for a pregnancy that resulted from in vitro fertilization should be assigned using the age of the embryo and the date of transfer.

For example, for a day-5 embryo, the EDD would be days from the embryo replacement date. Likewise, the EDD for a day-3 embryo would be days from the embryo replacement date. Using a single ultrasound examination in the second trimester to assist in determining the gestational age enables simultaneous fetal anatomic evaluation. With rare exception, if a first-trimester ultrasound examination was performed, especially one consistent with LMP dating, gestational age should not be adjusted based on a second-trimester ultrasound examination.

Ultrasonography dating in the second trimester typically is based on regression formulas that incorporate variables such as.


  • sex drive dating;
  • Methods for Estimating the Due Date - ACOG.
  • How well does fetal ultrasound predict the date of birth in Antigua and Barbuda?.
  • Introduction.
  • kolkata casual dating;
  • sample personal dating ads;

Other biometric variables, such as additional long bones and the transverse cerebellar diameter, also can play a role. Date changes for smaller discrepancies 10—14 days are appropriate based on how early in this second-trimester range the ultrasound examination was performed and on clinician assessment of LMP reliability. Because of the risk of redating a small fetus that may be growth restricted, management decisions based on third-trimester ultrasonography alone are especially problematic; therefore, decisions need to be guided by careful consideration of the entire clinical picture and may require close surveillance, including repeat ultrasonography, to ensure appropriate interval growth.

What types of ultrasound are there?

The best available data support adjusting the EDD of a pregnancy if the first ultrasonography in the pregnancy is performed in the third trimester and suggests a discrepancy in gestational dating of more than 21 days. As soon as data from the LMP, the first accurate ultrasound examination, or both are obtained, the gestational age and the EDD should be determined, discussed with the patient, and documented clearly in the medical record. For the purposes of research and surveillance, the best obstetric estimate, rather than estimates based on the LMP alone, should be used as the measure for gestational age.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine, and the Society for Maternal—Fetal Medicine recognize the advantages of a single dating paradigm being used within and between institutions that provide obstetric care.

Ultrasound: Sonogram

Table 1 provides guidelines for estimating the due date based on ultrasonography and the LMP in pregnancy, and provides single-point cutoffs and ranges based on available evidence and expert opinion. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, posted on the Internet, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher.

Methods for estimating the due date. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Clinical estimation of gestational age: Rules for avoiding preterm delivery. Ultrasound scanning of ovaries to detect ovulation in women. Variability of ovarian follicular growth in natural menstrual cycles. Growth and development of the human fetus prior to the twentieth week of gestation. Length and depth of the uterus and the diameter of the gestation sac in normal gravidas during early pregnancy. Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand 50 suppl: Br J Obstet Gynaecol The ultrasonic measurement of fetal crown-rump length as a method of assessing gestational age.

Underestimation of gestational age by conventional crown-rump length growth curves. The prediction of fetal maturity by ultrasonic measurement of the biparietal diameter. J Obstet Gynaecol Br Commonw Sonar BPD and fetal age: Definition of the relationship. Campbell S, Newman GB: Growth of the fetal biparietal diameter during normal pregnancy. Sabbagha RE, Hughey M: Standardization of sonar cephalometry and gestational age.

Analysis of percentile growth differences in two normal populations using same methodology. Hughey M, Sabbagha RE: Cephalometry by real time imaging: Am J Obstct Gynecol Analysis of biparietal diameter as an accurate indicator of gestational age. J Clin Ultrasound 8: A critical reevaluation of the relation to menstrual age by means of realtime ultrasound.

Assessment of Gestational Age by Ultrasound | GLOWM

J Ultrasound Med 1: Improved prediction of gestational age from fetal head measurement. Relation to menstrual age. Campbell S, Wilken D: Ultrasonic measurement of fetal abdomen circumference in the estimation of fetal weight. Percentile ranks of sonar fetal abdominal circumference measurements.

Fetal abdominal circumference as a predictor of menstrual age. A date-independent predictor of intrauterine growth retardation: Normal growth of the fetal biparietal diameter and the abdominal diameter in a longitudinal study. Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand Ultrasound measurement of fetal limb bones. Assessment of gestational age in the second trimester by real-time ultrasound measurement of the femur length. Fetal femur length as a predictor of menstrual age.

Estimation of gestational age from measurement of fetal long bones. J Ultrasound Med 3: Ultrasonic evaluation of fetal ventricular growth. A new parameter for prenatal diagnosis and dating. A new way to estimate fetal age.


  • dating etiquette australia;
  • dating after 40 blog;
  • how to get to know someone youre dating;
  • .
  • marriage not dating ep 12 english;

Cerebellar measurements with ultrasonography in the evaluation of fetal growth and development. Prenatal sonographic assessment of the fetal thorax: A new biometric parameter for estimation of gestational age. Sonographic appearance of the fetal heel ossification centers and foot length measurements provide independent markers for gestational age estimation. Sonar measurement of fetal crown-rump length as means of assessing maturity of first trimester of pregnancy.

Br Med J 4: The prediction of delivery date by ultrasonic measurement of fetal crown-rump length. Relation of birth weight, gestational age, and the rate of intrauterine growth to perinatal mortality. Clin Obstet Gynecol Comparative analysis of ultrasonographic methods of gestational age assessment.

J Ultrasound Med 2: A comparison of the reliability of the estimated date of confinement predicted by crown-rump length and biparietal diameter. Intrauterine growth as estimated from live-born weight data at 24—42 weeks of gestation. A standard of fetal growth for the United States of America. Fetal growth and perinatal viability in California.

Mantoni M, Pedersen JF: Fetal growth delay in threatened abortion: Shepard M, Filly RA: A standardized plane for biparietal diameter measurement. Rational choice of plane of section for sonographic measurement. A comparison of real time and conventional B-scan techniques.

J Clin Ultrasound 4: Lunt RM, Chard L: Reproducibility of measurement of fetal biparietal diameter by ultrasonic cephalometry. The limitations of ultrasonic fetal cephalometry. An evaluation of two methods for measuring fetal head and body circumferences. Effect of head shape on BPD.

Fetal head and abdominal circumferences: Ellipse calculations versus planimetry. J Clin Ultrasound Campbell S, Thorns A: Ultrasound measurement of the fetal head to abdomen circumference ratio in the assessment of growth retardation. Pitfalls in femur length measurements.

J Ultrasound Med 6: Ultrasonographic identification of fetal lower extremity epiphyseal ossification centers. Comparison of biparietal diameter and femur length in the third trimester: Effects of gestational age and variation in fetal growth. J Ultrasound Med 5: Measurement accuracy of sonographic sector scanners. Accuracy of ultrasound in fetal femur length determination: A comparison of sector and linear array scanners for the measurement of the fetal femur.

Can ultrasound aid in calculation of LMP if patient does not remeber it?-Dr. Teena S Thomas

J Ultrasound Med 4: Comparison of ultrasound femur length and biparietal diameter in late pregnancy. Abramowicz J, Jaffe R: Comparison between lateral and axial ultrasonic measurements of the fetal femur. Fetal femur length, neonatal crown-heel length, and screening for intrauterine growth retardation.

OR, odds ratio; CI, confidence interval. This study demonstrates that pregnant women in Enugu, Nigeria, have poor knowledge of the limits of accuracy of late pregnancy ultrasound scan in estimating the delivery date.


  • history of dating sims;
  • Assessment of Gestational Age by Ultrasound.
  • Women's Health Care Physicians.
  • .
  • .
  • dating someone while going through divorce;
  • Methods for Estimating the Due Date.

This poor knowledge invariably translated into the observed perception of respondents toward induction of labor for postdatism, as more than half of the women This attitude poses a great challenge to perinatal care in our environment because an ultrasound scan is usually carried out in the third trimester when the margin of error is up to 3 weeks. Late booking for antenatal care might have strongly contributed to the poor uptake 7. The recent proliferation of ultrasound scan services in our environment came with a wave of optimism that ultrasound scanning could accurately determine all aspects of fetal well-being, hence only the well-educated or informed could question or resist its results.

This misconception is further worsened by uncontrolled purchasing and use of ultrasound scanning machines by poorly trained personnel who advertise themselves as sonologists or sonographers. What is even more worrisome is the increasing number of self-referrals for ultrasound by our pregnant women merely to know the EDD which they usually hold on to.

Legislation to regulate the acquisition and use of ultrasound by health professionals in the country may help to keep this problem in check. Such legislation should also discourage self-referral by pregnant women for ultrasound. This will further help to prevent our women from visiting poorly trained sonologists and guard against the possible effects of unreliable ultrasound scan results on maternal and neonatal health. Tertiary education was identified in this report as a strong determinant of acceptance of induction of labor for postdatism using the last menstrual date.

This may be explained by the expected impact of education on uptake of maternal and neonatal health services, as observed by previous authors. Also, the lesser educated are more likely to rely more on the impression created outside about a procedure like ultrasound, whether right or wrong. As pointed out by Olusanya et al, 12 the higher the educational status of the woman, the higher the social class, and this no doubt may explain the higher acceptance rate among women of higher social class than among women of lower social class.

This will help to reduce the incidence of prolonged pregnancy and its complications in our environment. The limitation of this study is that the willingness to accept labor induction was assumed to mean acceptance of induction of labor.