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Maxillary length in euploid and aneuploid fetuses

  • Maternal-Fetal Medicine
  • Published:
Archives of Gynecology and Obstetrics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

To examine the maxillary length of euploid and aneuploid fetuses in the second and third trimester.

Methods

Retrospective study utilizing stored 2D images of second and third trimester fetal profiles obtained at the University of Tuebingen, Germany. The length of the maxilla was measured as a straight line between the anterior ventral and posterior ventral edges of the maxilla.

Results

The study population consisted of 347 euploid fetuses and 122, 36, 5, 8, and 4 fetuses with trisomy 21, 18, and 13, Turner syndrome, and triploidy. In the euploid and aneuploid group, mean gestational age was 22.3 and 22.7 weeks, respectively. The maxilla length in euploid fetuses was significantly dependent on gestational age and it was significantly shorter in fetuses with trisomy 21, 18, and 13, and triploidy but not in those with Turner syndrome. In 75.4 and 14.8%, and 11 fetuses with trisomy 21, the maxilla was below the mean, the 5th and 1st centile of the euploid population.

Conclusions

In fetuses with trisomy 21, 18, and 13 and triploidy, the maxilla is significantly shorter, but the difference is only settled, so that it is unlikely that the maxilla length will play a role in second and third screening for aneuploidy.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Tuebingen, 72076, Tübingen, Germany

    Markus Hoopmann, Dominik Goldschmid, Philipp Wagner, Harald Abele & Karl Oliver Kagan

  2. Fetal Medicine Foundation USA, Dayton, OH, USA

    Jiri Sonek

  3. Division of Maternal Fetal Medicine, Wright State University, Dayton, OH, USA

    Jiri Sonek

Authors
  1. Markus Hoopmann
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  2. Jiri Sonek
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  3. Dominik Goldschmid
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  4. Philipp Wagner
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  5. Harald Abele
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  6. Karl Oliver Kagan
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Karl Oliver Kagan.

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Conflict of interest

All authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

This is a retrospective study involving ultrasound images from patients that were seen at the University of Tuebingen, Germany.

The study was approved by the local ethical committee. This is also stated in the Methods section.

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Hoopmann, M., Sonek, J., Goldschmid, D. et al. Maxillary length in euploid and aneuploid fetuses. Arch Gynecol Obstet 295, 331–336 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00404-016-4251-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00404-016-4251-2

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