title: Ultrasonographic fetal growth charts: an informatic approach by quantitative analysis of the impact of ethnicity on diagnoses based on a preliminary report on Salentinian population.
abstract: Clear guidance on fetal growth assessment is important because of the strong links between growth restriction or macrosomia and adverse perinatal outcome in order to reduce associated morbidity and mortality. Fetal growth curves are extensively adopted to track fetal sizes from the early phases of pregnancy up to delivery. In the literature, a large variety of reference charts are reported but they are mostly up to five decades old. Furthermore, they do not address several variables and factors (e.g., ethnicity, foods, lifestyle, smoke, and physiological and pathological variables), which are very important for a correct evaluation of the fetal well-being. Therefore, currently adopted fetal growth charts are inadequate to support the melting pot of ethnic groups and lifestyles of our society. Customized fetal growth charts are needed to provide an accurate fetal assessment and to avoid unnecessary obstetric interventions at the time of delivery. Starting from the development of a growth chart purposely built for a specific population, in the paper, authors quantify and analyse the impact of the adoption of wrong growth charts on fetal diagnoses. These results come from a preliminary evaluation of a new open service developed to produce personalized growth charts for specific ethnicity, lifestyle, and other parameters.
authors.affiliation: Division of Experimental Endoscopic Surgery, Imaging, Technology and Minimally Invasive Therapy, Centre for Interdisciplinary Research Applied to Medicine and Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Vito Fazzi Hospital, Piazza Muratore, 73100 Lecce, Italy.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-8426-8490
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tinelli
authors.affiliation: Department of Engineering for Innovation, Software Engineering and Telemedia LAB (SET-Lab), University of Salento, 73100 Lecce, Italy.
authors.forename: Mario Alessandro
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Bochicchio
authors.affiliation: Department of Engineering for Innovation, Software Engineering and Telemedia LAB (SET-Lab), University of Salento, 73100 Lecce, Italy.
authors.forename: Lucia
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-5935-6074
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Vaira
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Santa Maria Hospital, 70124 Bari, Italy.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-6940-7608
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Malvasi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D047109:Fetal Development / Q000502:physiology*; D005317:Fetal Growth Retardation / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology; D005320:Fetal Macrosomia / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology; D057238:Growth Charts; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D011247:Pregnancy; D014463:Ultrasonography