title: Establishment of fetal biometric charts using quantile regression analysis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Fetal growth evaluation is an essential component of pregnancy surveillance. There have been several methods used to construct growth charts. The conventional charts used in current daily practice are based on small numbers and traditional statistical methods. The purpose of this study was to improve fetal biometric charts based on a much larger number of observations with an alternative statistical method: quantile regression analysis. A comparison between the charts is presented.
  
  
  METHODS
  During the 12 years of study, 17,708 sonographic examinations of pregnant women from the north of Israel, between 12 and 42 weeks of pregnancy, were performed. Fetal measurements were obtained by several operators using various equipment and included head circumference, abdominal circumference, and femur length.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Growth charts were established based on these measurements.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In this study, we constructed biometric growth charts using a large cohort of pregnant women. These charts offer the advantages of specific estimated regression parameters for each specified percentile, thus better defining the normal range. We suggest using these new charts in routine daily obstetric practice.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Haemek Medical Center, 18101 Afula, Israel. spiegelr@zahav.net.il
authors.forename: Etty
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Daniel-Spiegel
authors.forename: Ehud
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Weiner
authors.forename: Ilan
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Yarom
authors.forename: Etti
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Doveh
authors.forename: Perry
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Friedman
authors.forename: Ayala
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cohen
authors.forename: Eliezer
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Shalev
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001699:Biometry; D005260:Female; D047109:Fetal Development; D006801:Humans; D007557:Israel; D011247:Pregnancy; D012016:Reference Values; D012044:Regression Analysis; D016216:Ultrasonography, Prenatal / Q000379:methods*