Metatarsal growth during the second trimester: a predictor of gestational age?

Metatarsal growth was studied in 780 human fetal metatarsal bones, crown-rump length ranging from 120 to 260 mm and gestational age ranging from 14 to 23 wk postconception. Total length, diaphyseal length and diameter were measured and statistical analysis performed. Means and standard deviations for each measurement were calculated at 1 wk intervals. These data were correlated with crown-rump length and gestational age and an equation was constructed in an attempt to predict gestational age.

Growth of the tibia and fibula bones in human fetuses.

The growth of the long bones has been a subject of great importance lately, because it provides non invasive diagnosis of prenatal malformations. This study examines 116 tibia and fibula bones of Brazilian fetuses (17 males and 12 females) with gestational age ranging from the 16th to the 34th week postconception. Only fetuses with no visible congenital malformations and with normal biometric parameters were considered. The bones were measured with a 0.1 mm precision caliper and their Total Length (TL), the Ossified Diaphysis Length (ODL), the Diaphysis width (DW), the Proximal Epiphyss length (PEL) and the Distal Epiphyss Length (DEL) were studied. The Total Length (TL) and the Ossified Diaphysis Length (ODL) were correlated with those of the fetal Crown-Rump length (C-R). Our results have shown that there was an increase in all these measures, with no significant statistical difference observed between the left and the right sides. A significant correlation coefficient was found in most parts of the measurements studied. This study aims to provide data to be utilized in monitoring bone growth as well as in the diagnosis of the lower limb deformities during fetal period.

A study of human foot length growth in the early fetal period.

The length of the human fetal foot was studied in 106 feet from 53 unfixed staged human fetuses (35 males and 18 females) by means of the allometric formula log Y = log b+k log X. The gestational age ranged from 13 to 26 weeks postconception. The measurement taken from the heel to the tip of the longest toe was regarded here as the maximum length of the foot. Growth in length of the foot was analysed in relation to crown-rump length. Our results show that foot length growth is correlated to crown-rump growth and is allometrically positive. No statistically significant difference was found between right and left feet or between male and female fetuses.

Growth of the human metatarsal bones in the fetal period (13-24 weeks postconception): a quantitative study.

We studied metatarsal growth in 600 metatarsal bones (60 pairs of feet) taken from 60 human fetuses (35 males and 25 females) ranging in age from 13 to 24 weeks postconception. The data obtained for the total length (TL) and for the ossified metatarsal length (OML) were correlated to fetal crown-rump length (C-R). The ossified metatarsal length presented a growth rate greater than the total length growth rate. There was no statistical difference between either the right and left metatarsals or males and females in total length and ossified metatarsal length growth during the period studied. We believe that metatarsal growth curves could be used to monitor fetal foot growth.