title: [Could we perform quality second trimester ultrasound among obese pregnant women?].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To compare the quality of second trimester ultrasound images and their anatomical quality scores among obese women and those with a normal body mass index (BMI).
  
  
  METHODS
  This prospective study, which took place from 2009 to 2011, included every obese pregnant woman (prepregnancy BMI greater than 30 kg/m(2)) who had an ultrasound examination at 20 to 24 weeks in our hospital and a control group with a normal BMI (20-24.9kg/m(2)) who had the same examination. A single operator evaluated the quality of all images, reviewing the standardized ultrasound planes - three biometric and six anatomical - required by French guidelines and scoring the quality of the six anatomical images. Each image was assessed according to 4-6 criteria, each worth one point. We sought excellent quality, defined as the frequency of maximum points for a given image.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The obese group included 223 women and the control group 60. The completion rate for each image was at least 95 % in the control group and 90 % in the obese group, except for diaphragm and right outflow tract images. Overall, the excellence rate varied from 35 % to 92 % in the normal BMI group and 18 % to 58 % in the obese group and was significantly lower in the latter for all images except abdominal circumference (P=0.26) and the spine (P=0.06). Anatomical quality scores were also significantly lower in the obese group (22.3 vs. 27.2 ; P=0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Image quality and global anatomical scores in second trimester ultrasound scans were significantly lower among obese than normal-weight women.
authors.affiliation: Service de gynécologie obstétrique, hôpital Bicêtre, assistance publique hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP), 78, rue du Général-Leclerc, 94275 Le Kremlin-Bicêtre, France. florent.fuchs@bct.aphp.fr
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Fuchs
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Voulgaropoulos
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Houllier
authors.forename: M-V
authors.initials: MV
authors.lastname: Senat
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000453:epidemiology; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000453:epidemiology; D011262:Pregnancy Trimester, Second / Q000502:physiology; D011786:Quality Control; D016216:Ultrasonography, Prenatal / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards*