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  • Title: Predicting birth weight by fetal upper-arm volume with use of three-dimensional ultrasonography.
    Author: Liang RI, Chang FM, Yao BL, Chang CH, Yu CH, Ko HC.
    Journal: Am J Obstet Gynecol; 1997 Sep; 177(3):632-8. PubMed ID: 9322635.
    Abstract:
    OBJECTIVE: Our purpose was to determine the usefulness and accuracy of the three-dimensional ultrasonography assessed fetal upper-arm volume in predicting birth weight. STUDY DESIGN: From June 1996 to October 1996, we performed a prospective study of ultrasonography on 105 pregnant women without fetal structural anomaly or aneuploidy. Both the traditional two-dimensional ultrasonographic parameters and three-dimensional ultrasonography for fetal upper arm volume were measured within 48 hours of delivery. RESULTS: The upper arm volume correlated well with birth weight (r = 0.92, n = 105, p < 0.0001). With use of linear and polynomial regression, we obtained a best-fit new formula, Birth weight = 1088.60 + 36.024 x Upper-arm volume. The accuracy of this new formula is compared with that of two Chinese equations predicting fetal weight reported before and other formulas commonly used in the world as well. Our formula is more accurate in predicting birth weight than all the other formulas by traditional two-dimensional ultrasonography, either in error, percentage error, or absolute error. Another group by prospective validation further proved this finding. CONCLUSION: The upper-arm volume assessed by three-dimensional ultrasonography can accurately predict birth weight, and its accuracy is superior to the previous, formulas. Our study has at least validated the application of upper-arm volume by three-dimensional ultrasonography in estimating fetal weight. Further larger series are needed to confirm our findings. The capability of fetal upper-arm volume assessed by 3-dimensional ultrasonography to predict birth weight was investigated in a prospective study involving 105 women who delivered live infants at National Cheng Kung University Hospital (Tainan, Taiwan) in 1996. Mean birth weight was 3312 grams (range, 1194-4425 g). Upper-arm volume was measured within 48 hours of delivery by both traditional 2-dimensional ultrasonography and the 3-dimensional technique. 3-dimensional ultrasonography has the advantage of being independent of fetal position and is not influenced by arm shape. Upper-arm volume was highly correlated with birth weight (p 0.0001). Through use of linear and polynomial regression, a best-fit new formula for predicting birth weight was derived: 1088.60 + 36.024 x upper-arm volume. Compared with 4 pre-existing formulas, the new formula (with upper-arm volume measured by 3-dimensional ultrasonography) had the lowest values in terms of error (0.0 g), absolute error (153.7 g), and percentage error (0.53%) in predicting birth weight. A large-scale prospective study is underway at this hospital to further validate the new formula.
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