Fetal gender screening based on placental location by 2-dimentional ultrasonography

ABSTRACT

Early detection of fetal gender can provide an alarm for parents who complicated by genetic disorders. Moreover, the invasive tests are used for detecting any sex-specific genetic syndromes before 12 weeks of gestation. This study was de-signed to discover any association between placental location and fetal gender between 11 to 13+6 weeks of gestation. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 200 singleton pregnant women. They were referred for Down syndrome screening sonography to prenatal clinic, Imam Khomeini Hospital a tertiary referral university affiliated hospital, Ahvaz, Iran, in 2013. Women were included if they are singleton and at 11 to 13[+6] weeks gestational age. Exclusion criteria were multifetal, ectopic pregnancies, or dead fetus. Information about placental location [upper, middle, below, anterior, posterior], gravidity, and fetal gender were recorded. All participants of our study were evaluated by one trained gynecologist in ultrasound examinations during nuchal translucency [NT] examinations. Ultrasonography was performed using the Accuvix V10 OB/GYN ultrasound. All patients were followed-up till delivery for confirming the predicted gender. Information regarding gender of newborn were collected using medical chart review or by phone contact. Among 200 placenta which had been assessed, 103 [51.5%] were anterior and 97 [48.5%] were posterior. Our results showed that 75 [72.8%] from girl cases had an anterior placenta, while just 28 [27.2%] from boy cases had an anterior placenta [P< 0.001]. In addition, there was significant association between placental location regarding below, middle, and upper and fetal gender. According to our results, an anterior and posterior positions of the placenta had significant relation with fetal gender. Our findings are consistent with previous studies regarding prediction of fetal gender using placental location. We suggest that more research with large sample size is required as well as investigations with more details about placental locations