title: Head circumference/abdominal circumference ratio, ponderal index and fetal malnutrition. Should head circumference/abdominal circumference ratio be abandoned?
abstract: Head circumference/abdominal circumference (HC/AC) ratios of the fetus are accepted as a means of distinguishing different patterns of growth retardation with a high ratio implying malnutrition of the fetus. Ponderal index (birthweight/length3) is used by paediatricians as a measure of neonatal wasting and would therefore be expected to correlate with HC/AC ratios at delivery. Anthropometric data on 999 newborn infants have been collected and analyzed by multiple regression. The results show a poor correlation between ponderal index and HC/AC ratio, worse than that between ponderal index and AC alone. The use of HC/AC ratios antenatally to identify subgroups of intrauterine malnutrition should be abandoned. The prediction of intrauterine malnutrition by weight/length ratios should be investigated further.
authors.affiliation: Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital, Heavitree.
authors.forename: N V
authors.initials: NV
authors.lastname: Colley
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Tremble
authors.forename: G L
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Henson
authors.forename: T J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Cole
mesh_terms: D000886:Anthropometry / Q000379:methods*; D001724:Birth Weight; D001827:Body Height; D002508:Cephalometry; D005260:Female; D005317:Fetal Growth Retardation / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D010387:Pelvimetry; D011247:Pregnancy; D012044:Regression Analysis