A quantitative study of human fetal femur growth (from the 15th to 24th weeks postconception)

This study aims to analyze the human femur growth. The materials utilized are 140 dissected femures from 70 Brazilian fetuses, age ranging from the 15th to the 24th gestational week. Three different measurements were made: Diaphyseal Length (DL), Total Lenghth (TL) and Diaphyseal Diameter (DD). We correlated these measurements to Gestational Age (GA) and to Crown-Rump Length (CR) and found that diaphysea length is best corelated to both parameters. This indicates diaphyseal lengh as an useful parameter, in the second trimester, for determining gestational age or as additional parameter to monitor fetal growth, helping in the diagnosis of growth's abnormalities.