Assessment of normal fetal upper arm volume by three‐dimensional ultrasound

Abstract

Purpose:  Precise assessment of the fetal organ volumes by prenatal ultrasound (US) is very important in the evaluation of fetal well‐being and maturation. Limb volume may be a possible predictive factor of intrauterine growth retardation. However, using two‐dimensional (2D) US to accurately estimate the fetal upper arm volume is difficult. With the advent of three‐dimensional (3D) US, the obstacle of 2DUS can be overcome. In this study we attempt to construct a normal reference centiles of fetal upper arm volume during gestation for clinical application using 3DUS.