title: Femur length/abdominal circumference ratio. Poor predictor of macrosomic fetuses in diabetic mothers.
abstract: Antenatal diagnosis of fetal macrosomia can affect the management of diabetic mothers. Because the sonographically determined femur length/abdominal circumference (FL/AC) ratio has been shown to differ in macrosomic and non-macrosomic fetuses (in a population containing few diabetics), its value in establishing the diagnosis of macrosomia was examined. The results indicate that the FL/AC ratio differs in non-macrosomic (20.4 +/- 1.6) and macrosomic (19.5 +/- 1.4) fetuses of diabetic mothers, but there is considerable overlap. For no cutoff value is there a high sensitivity and high specificity. The positive predictive value is 36-43 per cent (depending on the cutoff), only slightly greater than the prevalence (26 per cent in the study population). The authors conclude that the FL/AC ratio is not useful in predicting macrosomia among diabetic mothers.
mesh_terms: D000005:Abdomen / Q000196:embryology; D000886:Anthropometry; D005260:Female; D005269:Femur / Q000196:embryology; D005865:Gestational Age; D005877:Gigantism / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D011247:Pregnancy; D011254:Pregnancy in Diabetics / Q000150:complications*; D011296:Prenatal Diagnosis; D011379:Prognosis; D014463:Ultrasonography