Fetal body composition.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this review is to highlight recent developments in the evaluation of fetal growth, focusing on the determination of fetal body composition. The ultimate goal of this area of investigation is to improve predictions of perinatal morbidity and mortality beyond that achieved employing estimated fetal weight as the primary discriminator of the risk associated with abnormal fetal growth.


RESULTS
Several validated techniques have emerged which appear capable of quantifying fetal lean body mass and fat mass. Preliminary investigations suggest that these body composition parameters do distinguish, with a higher degree of precision than estimates of fetal weight alone, clinical influences that contribute to abnormal fetal growth. Studies linking estimates of fetal body composition to improved prediction of perinatal morbidity and mortality are currently limited.


CONCLUSIONS
Quantitative estimates of fetal body composition can currently be achieved with recently developed and validated ultrasound tools. Their utility for the improved prediction of perinatal morbidity and mortality has not yet been rigorously examined.
Bernstein
Ira
I
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Vermont College of Medicine and Women's Health Care Service, Fletcher Allen Health Care, Burlington, VT 05401-1435, USA. ira.bernstein@uvm.edu
D000328:Adult; D001724:Birth Weight; D001823:Body Composition / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D047109:Fetal Development; D005320:Fetal Macrosomia / Q000175:diagnosis; D005333:Fetus / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007226:Infant Mortality; D007231:Infant, Newborn / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000502:physiology; D011247:Pregnancy; D016216:Ultrasonography, Prenatal