1. Implementing the INTERGROWTH-21st fetal growth standards in France: a 'flash study' of the College Français d'Echographie Foetale (CFEF).
- Author
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Stirnemann, J. J., Fries, N., Bessis, R., Fontanges, M., Mangione, R., and Salomon, L. J.
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FETAL growth disorders , *FETAL development , *BIOMETRY , *INTRAVASCULAR ultrasonography , *SKELETON , *BODY size , *CEPHALOMETRY , *FETAL ultrasonic imaging , *GESTATIONAL age , *HEAD , *LONGITUDINAL method , *PRENATAL diagnosis , *WEIGHTS & measures , *CROSS-sectional method - Abstract
Objectives: To assess potential differences in fetal size between the French population and the international population from the INTERGROWTH-21st (IG-21st ) Project and to measure the impact of switching to the IG-21st reference standards for fetal size.Methods: This was a nationwide cross-sectional study of fetal ultrasound biometry. Low-risk singleton pregnancies were recruited prospectively within the network of the national French College of Fetal Ultrasound, CFEF, over a 6-week period. Further selection was performed based on the criteria of the IG-21st Project in order to obtain a comparable population. Head circumference (HC) was used as the main fat-free skeletal measure of growth for comparison of French fetal size with that of the IG-21st population. The impact of switching to the IG-21st fetal growth standards was quantified by comparing Z-scores calculated using the IG-21st standards with those calculated using locally derived reference ranges for HC, abdominal circumference (AC) and femur length (FL).Results: Following selection, 4858 cases were analyzed. The distribution of HC demonstrated clear similarity between our French population and the IG-21st population: our observed centile curves closely matched those of IG-21st and the Z-scores were close to 0 across gestational age. The IG-21st standards performed as well as did locally derived charts in terms of screening for small-for-gestational age by AC, while they identified significantly fewer small FL values than were expected and than did the locally derived charts.Conclusions: Under strict selection criteria, fetal size in France is similar to that of the international population used in the IG-21st Project. The discrepancies in FL are unlikely to impact on prenatal management. Therefore, switching from locally derived reference ranges to the IG-21st standards appears to be a safe option. Copyright © 2016 ISUOG. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]- Published
- 2017
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