Search

The objective of the study was to find out correlation between umbilical cord diameter, cross sectional area with gestational age and foetal anthropometric parameters. This cross sectional study was conducted among healthy women between the 24(th) and 40(th) completed weeks of a normal pregnancy in the Department of Radiology & Imaging, Mymensingh Medical College Hospital, Mymensingh during the study period, from July 2009 to June 2011. A total of 230 consecutive normal pregnancy patients were included in the study. The diameter & cross-sectional area of the umbilical cord were measured on a plane adjacent to the junction of the umbilical cord and the fetal abdomen, in cross-section, with maximum magnification of the image. The cord was manually circled, and it's cross sectional areas was automatically calculated by the ultrasonograph. The mean±SD age was 24.3±4.7 years with range from 19 to 36 years. The mean gestational age was 32.1±4.5 weeks and more than a half (56.4%) of the pregnant women were nulliparas. A positive significant (p<0.001) correlation were found between umbilical cord diameter with bi-parietal diameter (r=0.548); head circumference (r=0.411); abdominal circumference (r=0.444); femur length (r=0.366) and gestational age gestation age (r=0.643). Similarly, a significant (p<0.001) positive week correlation were found between umbilical cross sectional area with bi-parietal diameter (r=0.3303); head circumference (r=0.3202); abdominal circumference (r=0.2651); femur length (r=0.3307) and gestation age (r=0.4051). A positive significant better correlation was found with umbilical cord diameter than cross sectional area with foetal anthropometric parameters.

Objectives: The objectives of this study were to establish gestational age-specific reference ranges for cross-sectional area of the umbilical cord, and its components, in twin pregnancies and to compare them with previously reported singleton reference ranges., Methods: This was a prospective longitudinal study involving uncomplicated dichorionic twin pregnancies. Sonographic measurements of the cross-sectional area of the umbilical cord, umbilical vein and arteries and Wharton's jelly were obtained in a plane adjacent to the fetal abdomen, every 3 weeks, between 18 and 32 weeks of gestations. Multilevel regression analysis was used to determine gestational age-specific reference ranges for each parameter, and these were plotted against singleton pregnancy references., Results: Three hundred and thirty four ultrasound scans were performed in 44 twin pregnancies, between 18 and 32.9 weeks (mean: 3.8 ± 0.7 scans/pregnancy and mean interval between scans: 3.3 ± 0.9 weeks). All umbilical cord cross-sectional areas (total, vein, artery and Wharton's jelly) showed a significant increase with gestational age. Compared with singleton pregnancy ranges, mean values were considerably lower in twin pregnancies and resemble the lower limits observed in singletons., Conclusion: In twin pregnancies, cross-sectional area of the umbilical cord, and its components, increases between 18 and 32 weeks, and mean values are substantially lower compared with singleton pregnancies., (© 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.)

Background: Common fetal parameters for gestational age (GA) estimation have pitfalls especially in advanced pregnancy and pregnancy complicated by fetal structural anomaly., Objective: To assess the relationship between umbilical cord size and gestational age of the fetus., Subjects and Methods: A sonographic cross sectional study involving 300 pregnant women with GA between 14 weeks to 40 weeks was done in Enugu, Nigeria. Gestational ages were first estimated by use of Naegele's formula for GA estimation based on the date of onset of each subject's last menstrual period. Fetal parameters such as biparietal diameter, femur length, head circumference and abdominal circumference were measured and also used to estimate GA. Umbilical cord diameters were measured and used to compute the umbilical cord cross-sectional area., Results: The mean umbilical cord diameter and cross-sectional area were 14.5mm ± 7.2mm and 201.6mm ± 139.5mm(2) respectively. Umbilical cord growth rate of 1.0mm/week was noted between the 14(th) and 35(th) week of pregnancy. There were significant correlations (p < 0.001) between umbilical cord size and other fetal parameters for GA estimation., Conclusion: Umbilical cord size had strong linear relationship with common fetal GA estimation parameters and could be used to compliment these parameters for GA estimation.

Objective: The aims of the study were to establish reference ranges for placental length and thickness in a low-risk obstetric population and to assess the likelihood of a small for gestational age (SGA) neonate on the basis of placental length at 18-24 weeks' gestation., Methods: Placental length and thickness were measured by two sonographers in 520 singleton pregnancies. Uterine artery Doppler studies and a placental morphological assessment were also performed. Placental size was correlated with the birthweight centiles at delivery., Results: A placental length <10th centile between the gestational age of 18 and 24 weeks is a significant factor associated with SGA neonate [odds ratio (OR) = 2.8, 95% CL, 1.1-6.9]. An abnormal uterine artery Doppler is a significant factor for SGA neonate (OR = 3.4, 95% CL, 1.6-7.4). There was a weak relationship between cord insertion <2 cm from the placental margin and an SGA neonate (OR = 1.8, 95% CL, 0.4-8.2)., Conclusion: We have provided reference ranges for placental length and thickness from 18 to 24 weeks' gestation. A single measurement of placental length incorporated into the anatomy scan may assist in the early detection of a group at risk of delivering an SGA neonate., (© 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.)

Objective: To determine bovine fetal characteristics significantly associated with increasing gestational age as measured via transcutaneous ultrasonography over the right flank., Methods: The length of gestation at date of pregnancy diagnosis via transcutaneous and transrectal ultrasonography was determined for 224 dairy cattle by estimation from subsequent calving dates. A separate dataset was created for each measurable fetal characteristic (i.e. thoracic diameter, abdominal diameter, umbilical diameter, placentome length and placentome height) and risk factors significantly associated with gestational age at pregnancy diagnosis within each dataset, including the fetal characteristic, were identified., Results: Abdominal diameter was the most frequently observed fetal characteristic and thoracic diameter was the least. Gestational age at pregnancy diagnosis (d) was significantly associated with fetal thoracic diameter (P < 0.01), abdominal diameter (P < 0.01) and umbilical diameter (P = 0.02) when measured via transcutaneous ultrasound. Within each model, sire breed, dam breed, dam age and/or calf sex were also significantly associated with gestational age. Gestational age at pregnancy diagnosis was not significantly associated with either placentome height or length (P > 0.05)., Conclusion: Fetal thoracic diameter, abdominal diameter and umbilical diameter were found to be significantly associated with gestational age between approximate days 73 to 190 of gestation. Transcutaneous ultrasonography may prove a useful method of estimating gestational age in the absence of accurate breeding records.

Fetal growth depends in part on placental growth. The authors tested placental measures derived from digital images for reliability and to evaluate their association with birth weight and gestational age. A total of 628 women recruited into the Pregnancy, Infection, and Nutrition Study, a prospective cohort study of preterm birth in central North Carolina between 2002 and 2004, delivered singleton liveborn infants after 24 completed weeks' gestation. Novel chorionic plate morphometric parameters captured off digital images of the gross placenta were analyzed as estimators of gestational age and birth weight. Without acknowledgment to placental weight, digitally obtained lateral chorionic plate growth measures accounted for 17 percent of gestational age variance and 35 percent of birth weight variance, overall. Chorionic plate measures accounted for 10 percent of birth weight variance beyond that accounted for by placental weight alone. Among preterm births, 34 percent of gestational age variance and 63 percent of birth weight variance were accounted for by lateral chorionic plate growth measures. Intraclass correlation coefficients for the novel digital measures ranged from 0.96 to 0.98. Reliable digital measures of lateral chorionic plate growth estimate birth weight variance more strongly than gestational age, project variance that is not accounted for by placental weight, and project these outcomes to a greater degree in preterm births than at term.

Several characteristics of newborns were investigated in our population from northwestern Greece, for the first time during the last 30 years, providing useful data. The study included 5,278 pregnant women who delivered from 1992-1996, and the following parameters have been studied: (1) age of pregnancy at the parturition, (2) weight of newborn, (3) weight of placenta, (4) age of the pregnant woman, and (5) length of the umbilical cord, all five in relation with parity. Statistically significant relationships were found between: (1) age of the pregnant woman and the parity (but not between paras-2 and paras-3), (2) weight of the newborns between primiparas, paras-3, and paras-4 as also paras-2 and paras-4, (3) length of the umbilical cord between primiparas and paras-3 and paras-4. No significant relationship was found between placenta weight and parity, nor between gestational age at the parturition and parity. The study gives these features for the first time, to our best knowledge, of the birth characteristics of a certain and very homogeneous population of northwestern Greece, and these useful data could be the basis for future studies and comparisons with other populations.

We investigated whether variations in mode of attachment of umbilical cords and vessels coincided with differences in maternal haemoglobin genotype and neonatal factors or placental micro-volumetric composition. The incidence of placentae with marginally inserted cords, or those in which umbilical vessels separated prior to insertion, was not statistically different in samples from sickle cell patients having haemoglobin-SS and haemoglobin-SC genotypes, as compared with haemoglobin-AA controls. Results obtained from analysis of variance (ANOVA) suggest that the mode of insertion (status) of umbilical vessels may have clinical significance, because it produced differences in the main effects associated with neonatal gestational age, placental weight, and placental index. Point counting stereology was employed to estimate the microscopic compartment volumes of placentae prior to an assessment of statistical association between the data obtained and the status of umbilical vessels and maternal haemoglobin genotype. Furcate placentae (with separated umbilical vessels) had statistically greater than normal volumes of villi, villous trophoblast, and syncytial knots. We deduce that furcate placentae are prone to early delivery, because they are heavier, having more voluminous villi with more trophoblast and syncytial knots than controls.