The value of ultrasonic abdominal circumference in the prediction of gestational age.

The reliability of assessment of gestational age by ultrasonic fetal abdominal circumference in late pregnancy was evaluated in 204 Scottish women. The results showed that the method was very accurate, reliable and compared favourably with the data from other communities. The relationship between the target (gestational age) and the independent (abdominal circumference) variables as verified by a simple regression equation was a linear one. This method could therefore be very useful within the limit of two standard deviations of the mean in the prediction of gestational age and in the monitoring of fetal growth in late pregnancy.