Estimation of fetal weight: accuracy of regression models versus accuracy of ultrasound data.

OBJECTIVES: To determine the respective importance of equation accuracy and variability in interexaminer measurements in estimation of fetal weight (EFW). METHODS: The study included 3 samples from three different French maternity hospitals. Sample 1 (6,508 fetuses) was used to compute a new linear regression model estimating fetal weight (FW) from ultrasound measurements. Sample 2, with 705 fetuses, was used to compare the accuracy of the new equation with Hadlock's equation. Sample 3 (1,461 fetuses) was used to assess - from our equation and from Hadlock's - the estimation errors due to the variability of ultrasound measurements recorded by 11 distinct examiners. Accuracy was determined by the signed percent difference (%Diff). Statistical analysis included the F test for correlated variances and comparisons of correlated variances. RESULTS: The random error of our model is 6.8%, significantly lower (p < 0.01) than Hadlock's which is around 7.4% (8.9% for low FW and 7.4% for high FW). The variability of ultrasound measurements among the different examiners in sample 3 generated a significant variation (p < 0.01) in the random error, ranging from 6.7 to 12.5%. This significant variation was also observed using Hadlock's equation for the same sample (from 7.2 to 12%). CONCLUSION: The accuracy of EFW depends much more on the quality of ultrasound measurements than on the choice of equation. Nevertheless, optimizing the accuracy of EFW (about 6.7-6.8%) imperatively requires standardized data collecting.

[Determination of the corpulence index in newborn infants]. / Détermination d'un indice de corpulence chez le nouveau-né.

A biometric study of the somatic characteristics weight and stature carried out in 1994 on 5,751 newborn children of both sexes showed the existence of an index of corpulence of the P/T2.75 type which presents the particularity of being correlated to weight and without any link with stature, unlike Quetelet's index (P/T2) and P/T3 Roehrer's index. At fixed stature, the coefficients of the average weight variation are lower than in adults. Moreover, there is no significant difference between the average weight in boys and in girls, their fluctuations being comparable. The expression P/T2.75 allows us to compare the corpulence of newborns of both sexes having distinct weight and stature.

[Persistent patent urachus disclosed by ultrasonography of an enlarged umbilical cord]. / Persistance de perméabilité de l'ouraque révélée par un mégacordon échographique.

A case of persistent permeability of the medial umbilical fold identified by the ultrasound detection of an enlarged umbilical cord. The ultrasound characteristics of this cord are described. A review of the literature made it possible to survey the diagnostic conditions of this disorder and to envisage the mechanisms involved.

[Clinical and ultrasonographic study of uterine involution in postpartum physiology]. / Etude clinique et échographique de l'involution utérine dans le post-partum physiologique.

The authors monitored the involution of the uterus during the first month after childbirth by means of clinical examinations and abdominal ultrasound. 156 clinical and ultrasound examinations were performed in 77 women on D2, D7 and D28. The size of the uterus and the uterine cavity were measured on the longitudinal sections only. The other incidences, and particularly the axial incidence, made it possible to describe the aspects of the uterine cavity. Uterine involution is rapid during the first week and then slows down. By D28, the dimensions of the uterus have returned to the upper limit for the non-pregnant uterus. During the first week the emptiness line is visible in one out of 13 cases. Hematometra is visible in one out of 6 cases and more frequent on D7 than on D2. It gave rise to no clinical signs. In all cases, an emptiness line was observed on day 28 postpartum.

[Brånemark method for preparation of titanium implants integrating with bone. Literature review]. / Metoda Branemarka wykonywania tytanowych wszczepów integrujacych sie z koscia przeglad pismiennictwa.

On the basis of a literature survey the Branemark method of preparing implants integrating with bone is presented considering preoperative management, two-step surgical intervention and prosthetic treatment. The results obtained as yet are presented.

[Exercise and pregnancy. Study of the change in heart rate in pregnancy when performing standardized moderate exercise]. / Port de charge et grossesse. Etude de l'évolution de la fréquence cardiaque au cours de la grossesse lors d'un port de charge modéré standardisé.

The object of this study was to look at, on the one hand, the demands made on the pregnant woman's heart and, on the other hand, the effects on fetal heart rate resulting from moderate exercise with a definite rhythm performed by pregnant women. Ten primiparous pregnant women who had normal pregnancies took part in this study in the third and eighth months of the pregnancies. These women were compared with 20 control women who were not pregnant but whose mean age, height and weight were similar to those in the study before their pregnancies started. The maternal heart rate was monitored continuously and the fetal heart rate was recorded telemetrically when the women were carrying 5 kg in each hand with the arms held upright. We will discuss the results that were obtained in the 5 women who followed the course from the beginning to the end of the pregnancy for the sake of this study. The mean heart rate at rest was considerably higher in the pregnant women than in the controls at rest and standing. The heart rate was much higher during the exercise in the pregnant women than in the controls at rest and standing. The heart rate was much higher during the exercise in the pregnant women than in the controls. These changes in heart rate were essentially the same between the 3rd and the 8th month of the pregnancy. The fetal heart rate did not change significantly during nor after the exercise.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)