Skip to main content

Standards for Fetal Growth and Neonatal Growth Outcomes

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Fetal Growth Restriction

Abstract

This chapter is concerned with the development of standards for evaluating fetal growth. Both conventional cross-sectional standards (based on size) and individualized standards (based on growth velocities) are discussed. Procedures for choosing anatomical measurement and age parameters are discussed. Sample selection is described in detail, and the use of percentiles to classify size measurements is presented. A discussion of the limitations of comparisons to the group is included. The presentation of an individualized approach [each fetus is its own control] begins with the assessment of growth potential for individual anatomical parameters in each fetus. Size model specification and individualized size trajectory generation are described in detail. Special parameters for comparing predicted and measured measurements during the 3rd trimester [percent deviation (%Dev)] and at birth [growth potential realization index (GPRI)] are defined. A method for quantifying growth pathology is described. The importance of concordance between fetal and neonatal growth assessments is discussed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 109.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 139.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Blechschmidt E. The beginnings of human life. New York: Springer; 1977.

    Google Scholar 

  2. Dorland W. Dorland’s medical dictionary for health consumers. New York: Saunders, an imprint of Elsevier; 2007.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Steckel RH. Birth weights and stillbirths in historical perspective. Eur J Clin Nutr. 1998;52:S16–20.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Callen PW. Ultrasonography in obstetrics and gynecology. 4th ed. Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders Company; 2000.

    Google Scholar 

  5. Deter RL, Lee W, Yeo L, Erez O, Ramamurthy U, Naik M, et al. Individualized growth assessment: conceptual framework and practical implementation for the evaluation of fetal growth and neonatal growth outcome. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2018;218:S656–78.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Salomon LJ, Alfirevic Z, Berghella V, Bilardo C, Hernandez-Andrade E, Johnsen SL, et al. Practice guidelines for performance of the routine midtrimester fetal ultrasound scan. Ultrasound Obstet Gynecol. 2011;37:116–26.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Deter RL, Stefos T, Harrist RB, Hill RM. Detection of intrauterine growth retardation in twins using individualized growth assessment. II. Evaluation of third-trimester growth and prediction of growth outcome at birth. J Clin Ultrasound. 1992;20:579–85.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Deter RL, Xu B, Milner LL. Prenatal prediction of neonatal growth status in twins using individualized growth assessment. J Clin Ultrasound. 1996;24:53–9.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Deter RL, Spence LR. Identification of macrosomic, normal and intrauterine growth retarded neonates using the modified neonatal growth assessment score. Fetal Diagn Ther. 2004;19:58–67.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Deter RL. Individualized growth assessment: evaluation of growth using each fetus as its own control. Semin Perinatol. 2004;28:23–32.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Deter RL, Harrist RB. Assessment of normal fetal growth. In: Chervenak FA, Isaacson G, Campbell S, editors. Ultrasound in obstetrics and gynecology. Boston: Little, Brown and Co; 1993. p. 361–85.

    Google Scholar 

  12. Hadlock FP, Harrist RB, Deter RL, Park SK. Estimation of fetal weight using head, body and femur measurements – a prospective study. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 1985;151:333–7.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Melamed N, Yogev Y, Meizner I, Mashiach R, Bardin R, Ben-Haroush A. Sonographic fetal weight estimation: which model should be used? J Ultrasound Med. 2009;28:617–29.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Lee W, Balasubramaniam M, Deter RL, Yeo L, Hassan SS, Gotsch F, et al. New fetal weight estimation models using fractional limb volume. Ultrasound Obstet Gynecol. 2009;34:556–65.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Faschingbauer F, Dammer U, Raabe E, Kehl S, Schmid M, Schild RL, et al. A new sonographic weight estimation formula for small-for-gestational-age fetuses. J Ultrasound Med. 2016;35:1713–24.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Rossavik IK, Deter RL, Hadlock FP. Mathematical modeling of fetal growth: III. Evaluation of head growth using the head profile area. J Clin Ultrasound. 1987;15:23–30.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Rossavik IK, Deter RL, Hadlock FP. Mathematical modeling of fetal growth: IV. Evaluation of trunk growth using the abdominal profile area. J Clin Ultrasound. 1987;15:31–5.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Lee W, Deter RL, McNie B, Gonçalves LF, Espinoza J, Chaiworapongsa T, et al. Individualized growth assessment of fetal soft tissue using fractional thigh volume. Ultrasound Obstet Gynecol. 2004;24:766–74.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Lee W, Deter RL, McNie B, Gonçalves LF, Espinoza J, Chaiworapongsa T, et al. The fetal arm: individualized growth assessment in normal pregnancies. J Ultrasound Med. 2005;24:817–28.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Harris RJ. A primer of multivariate statistics. Orlando: Academic Press; 1985.

    Google Scholar 

  21. Salomon LJ, Deter RL, Alfirevic Z. How to improve on the analysis and presentation of research data submitted to our journal. Ultrasound Obstet Gynecol. 2008;32:721–7.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Deter RL. Fetal age determination and growth assessment: their roles in prenatal diagnosis. In: Evans MI, Johnson MP, Yaron Y, Drugan A, editors. Prenatal diagnosis. New York: McGraw-Hill; 2006. p. 387–405.

    Google Scholar 

  23. Deter RL, Rossavik IK, Cortissoz C, Hill RM, Hadlock FP. Longitudinal studies of thigh circumference growth in normal fetuses. J Clin Ultrasound. 1987;15:388–93.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Papageorghiou AT, Kennedy SH, Salomon LJ, Altman DG, Ohuma EO, Stones W, et al. The INTERGROWTH-21 fetal growth standards: toward the global integration of pregnancy pediatric care. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2018;218:S630–40.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Kiserud T, Benach A, Perez RG HK, Carvalho J, Piaggio G, et al. The World Health Organization fetal growth charts: concept, findings, interpretation and application. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2018;218:S619–29.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Gardosi J, Francis A, Turner S, Williams M. Customized growth charts: rationale, validation and clinical benefits. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2018;218:S609–18.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Deter RL, Harrist RB, Birnholz JC, Hadlock FP. Quantitative obstetrical ultrasonography. New York: Wiley; 1986.

    Google Scholar 

  28. Buck Louis GM, Grewal J, Albert PS, Sciscione A, Wing DA, Grobman WA, et al. Racial/ethnic standards for fetal growth: the NICHD Fetal Growth Studies. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2015;213:449.e1–449.e41.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Kiserud T, Piaggio G, Carroli G, Widmer M, Carvalho J, Neerup Jensen L, et al. The World Health Organization fetal growth charts: a multinational longitudinal study of ultrasound biometric measurements and estimated fetal weight. PLoS Med. 2017;14:e1002220.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Villar J, Altman DG, Purwar M, Noble JA, Knight HE, Ruyan P, et al. The objectives and implementation of the INTERGROWTH-21st project. BJOG. 2013;120(Suppl 2):9–26.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Papageorghiou AT, Ohuma EO, Altman DG, Todros T, Cheikh Ismail L, Lambert A, et al. International standards for fetal growth based on serial ultrasound measurements: the Fetal Growth Longitudinal Study of the INTERGROWTH-21st Project. Lancet. 2014;384:869–79.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. Deter RL, Lee W, Sangi-Haghpeykar H, Tarca AL, Yeo L, Romero R. Individualized fetal growth assessment: critical evaluation of key concepts in the specification of third trimester size trajectories. J Matern Fetal Neonatal Med. 2014;27:543–51.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Gardosi J, Chang A, Kalyan B, Sahota D, Symonds EM. Customised antenatal growth charts. Lancet. 1992;339:283–7.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  34. Gardosi J. Customized fetal growth standards: rationale and clinical application. Semin Perinatol. 2004;28:33–40.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  35. Stell RGD, Torrie JH, Dickey DA. Principles and procedures of statistics a biometrical approach. New York: McGraw-Hill; 1997.

    Google Scholar 

  36. Altman DG, Chitty LS. Design and analysis of studies to derive charts of fetal size. Ultrasound Obstet Gynecol. 1993;3:378–84.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  37. Draper NR, Smith H. Applied regression analysis. 2nd ed. New York: Wiley; 1981.

    Google Scholar 

  38. Altman DG, Chitty LS. Charts of fetal size: 1. Methodology. Br J Obstet Gynaecol. 1994;101:29–34.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  39. Diggle PJ, Liang K-Y, Zeger SL. Analysis of longitudinal data. Oxford: Clarendon Press; 1994.

    Google Scholar 

  40. Elston RC, Grizzle JE. Estimation of time-response curves and their confidence bands. Biometrics. 1962;18:148–59.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  41. Bryk AS, Raudenbush SW. Hierarchical linear models. Newbury Park: Sage; 1992.

    Google Scholar 

  42. Wei Y, Pere A, Koenker R, He X. Quantile regression methods for reference growth charts. Stat Med. 2006;25:1369–82.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  43. Daniel-Spiegel E, Weiner E, Yarom I, et al. Establishment of fetal biometric charts using quantile regression analysis. J Ultrasound Med. 2013;32:23–33.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  44. Battaglia FC, Lubchenco LO. A practical classification of newborn infants by weight and gestational age. J Pediatr. 1967;71:159–63.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  45. Mlynarczyk M, Chauhan SP, Baydoun HA, Wilkes CM, Earhart KR, Zhao Y, et al. The clinical significance of an estimated fetal weight below the 10th percentile: a comparison of outcomes of <5th vs 5th–9th percentile. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2017;217:198.e1–198.e11.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  46. Poljak B, Agarwal U, Jackson R, Alfirevic Z, Sharp A. Diagnostic accuracy of individual antenatal tools for prediction of small-for-gestational age at birth. Ultrasound Obstet Gynecol. 2017;49:493–9.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  47. Deter RL, Lee W, JCP K, Romero R. Fetal growth pathology score: a novel ultrasound parameter for individualized assessment of third trimester growth abnormalities. J Matern Fetal Neonatal Med. 2018;31:866–76.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  48. Xu B, Deter RL, Milner LL, Hill RM. Evaluation of twin growth status at birth using individualized growth assessment: comparison with conventional methods. J Clin Ultrasound. 1995;23:277–86.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  49. Hutcheon JA, Zhang X, Crattingius S, Kramer MS, Platt RW. Customized birthweight percentiles: does adjusting for maternal characteristic matter? BJOG. 2008;115:1397–404.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  50. Anderson NH, Sadler LC, Stewart AW, LM MC. Maternal and pathological pregnancy characteristics in customised birthweight centiles and identification of at-risk small-for-gestational age infants: a retrospective cohort study. BJOG. 2012;119:848–56.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  51. Sovio U, Smith GC. The effect of customization and use of a fetal growth standard on the association between birthweight percentile and adverse perinatal outcome. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2018;218:S738–44.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  52. Bukowksi R, Uchida T, Smith GC, Malone FD, Ball RH, Nyberg DA, et al. Individualized norms of optimal fetal growth. Obstet Gynecol. 2008;111:1065–76.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  53. Deter RL, Lee W, Sangi-Haghpeykar H, Tarca AL, Li J, Yeo L, et al. Personalized third trimester fetal growth evaluation: comparisons of individualized growth assessment, percentile line and conditional probability methods. J Matern Fetal Neonatal Med. 2016;29:177–85.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  54. Deter RL, Lee W, Kingdom J, Romero R. Second trimester growth velocities: assessment of fetal growth potential in SGA singletons. J Matern Fetal Neonatal Med. 2017 Nov;7:1–8. https://doi.org/10.1080/14767058.2017.1395849.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  55. Rossavik IK, Deter RL. Mathematical modeling of fetal growth I. Basic principles. J Clin Ultrasound. 1984;12:529–33.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  56. Deter RL, Rossavik IK, Harrist RB, Hadlock FP. Mathematical modeling of fetal growth: development of individual growth curve standards. Obstet Gynecol. 1986;68:156–61.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  57. Deter RL, Lee W, Sangi-Haghpeykar H, Tarca AL, Yeo L, Romero R. Fetal growth cessation in late pregnancy: its impact on predicted size parameters used to classify small for gestational age neonates. J Matern Fetal Neonatal Med. 2015;28:755–65.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  58. Hata T, Deter RL, Hill RM. Individual growth curve standards in triplets: prediction of third trimester growth and birth characteristics. Obstet Gynecol. 1991;78:379–84.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgment

The author would like to thank Ms. Rajshi Gandhi for her help in the preparation of this chapter.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Russell L. Deter .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Deter, R.L. (2019). Standards for Fetal Growth and Neonatal Growth Outcomes. In: Nardozza, L., Araujo Júnior, E., Rizzo, G., Deter, R. (eds) Fetal Growth Restriction. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-00051-6_1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-00051-6_1

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-00050-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-00051-6

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics