In the prenatal care of pregnant women, it is essential to have-a precise assessment of gestational age of the fetus.
The height of the ´uterine fundus reflects the fetal growth and correlates well with fetal crown-rump length.
Serial measurements of uterine fundal height throughout gestation are, simple, safe, inexpensive, and reasonably accurate screening method that may be used to detect IUGR(Intrauterine Growth Retardation).
The purpose, of this study is to describe the standard values of uterine fundal height in relation to gestational age, and then to evaluate the accuracy of these standard values in detecting fetal growth retardation.
Uterine fundal height was measured with a nonelastic centimeter tape, from the symphysis pubis to the fundus uteri_
Measurements of.fundal height were made from 20 weeks of gestation until delivery in 430 normal pregnant women and 256 pregnant women.
In a group of 430 healthy pregnant women, the 10th, 50th, and 90th percentile were calculated by gestational age: The chart was used to predicted LBW(Low-Birth-Weight) in a group of 256 pregnant women whose uterine height was measured after standard values had been fixed.
Of -32 neonates with LBW for gestational age, 25 had a uterine height below the 10th percentile
(sensitivity 78%). Of 224 neonates with ABW(AdequateBirthWeight), 195 had a uterine height above the 10th percentile (specificity 87%).
Careful measurement of uterine height using standard values seems to be an accurate method for detecting IUGR(Intrauterine Growth Retardation).
It is suggested that symphysial-fundal height measurements should be made routinely on all ante-natal patients and that each obstetric unit should derive its own standard curves.
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