Biometric and dynamic ultrasound assessment of small-for-dates infants: report of 260 cases.

The accuracy of 4 ultrasonic parameters and their combined use of detecting fetal growth retardation in a group of 260 small-for-dates infants are analyzed. Abdominal circumference measurement was the most accurate single ultrasonic technique. By combining this measurement with fetal cephalometry, it was possible to diagnose antenatally 96.8% of the small-for-dates infants. Fetal urinary production was below the normal mean in 94.3% of these infants. All except 1 asymmetric growth-retarded fetus had a fetal breathing movement rate lower than that of a normal fetus. The perinatal mortality was significantly decreased in a group of ultrasonically detected growth-retarded fetuses, as compared with the group of unrecognized small-for-dates fetuses.