Fetal maturity/gestational age evaluation.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Clinical Protocols↗
Biomedical subjects
R Petrucha
Publications and source records attributed to R Petrucha.
Fetal lung maturity: the adjunctive use of ultrasound.
Ultrasonic cephalometry (BPD) was retrospectively studied in 268 patients at risk for the development of hyaline membrane disease (HMD). Thirty-seven patients were diagnosed as having diabetes and were excluded. Of the remaining 231 patients, 123 (53%) were found to have a biparietal diameter of (BPD) greater than or equal to 9.2 cm. There were 92 patients delivered within 5 days of scanning and none developed HMD. A BPD of 9.2 cm corresponded to an L/S ratio of 2.8 (r = 0.45, p less than 0.05). The above results indicate that it is safe to deliver a nondiabetic patient in whom a fetal BPD of 9.2 cm has been obtained.
Amniotic Fluid↗
Persistently elevated AFP and AChE in amniotic fluid from a normal fetus following demise of its twin.
Intrauterine fetal demise (IUFD) in one of twins at 12 weeks of gestation was accompanied by markedly elevated maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) at 17 and 18 weeks. Amniotic fluid AFP from the healthy surviving twin's sac at 18.5 and 23 weeks was also greatly increased along with a positive acetylcholinesterase (AChE) band. Persistently elevated AFP and positive AChE so long after fetal demise--6.5 and 11 weeks post IUFD--has not, to our knowledge, been previously described. In similar cases, high level ultrasound and careful placental examination at birth should be utilized to search for fetal abnormalities or multiple pregnancy with IUFD.
Acetylcholinesterase↗