title: On the evaluation of routine ultrasound screening in the third trimester for detection of light for gestational age (LGA) infants.
abstract: Based upon 2194 consecutive pregnancies with known gestational age, formulas for weight deviation predicted in the 32nd and 37th gestational week were estimated by multiple linear regression on the measurements of the abdominal diameter (AD) and the biparietal diameter (BPD) of the first 64% of the pregnancies. The usefulness of the screening was evaluated on the remaining 36%. An attempt to diagnose light for gestational age (LGA) infants resulted in either a low sensitivity or a low predictive value of a positive test. The late third trimester screening was more sensitive than the early, indicating LGA as a late phenomenon in pregnancy. Knowing the result from the late scanning, the result from the early scanning contributed almost no further information about whether the infant would be LGA at birth. Basic epidemiological characteristics of other comparable investigations on high-risk pregnancies and non selected pregnancies are presented.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Hvidovre Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: N J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Secher
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kern Hansen
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lenstrup
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sindberg Eriksen
authors.forename: B L
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Thomsen
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Keiding
mesh_terms: D001724:Birth Weight; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007236:Infant, Small for Gestational Age; D008403:Mass Screening; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications; D011263:Pregnancy Trimester, Third; D011296:Prenatal Diagnosis; D014463:Ultrasonography