Ultrasound assessment of fetal musculo-skeletal development
Ultrasound assessment of fetal musculo-skeletal development
Using three-dimensional ultrasound (3DUS) in pregnant women taking part in a population-based survey of maternal nutrition (Southampton Women’s survey), the relationship between maternal influences and fetal musculo-skeletal markers of disease was explored.
517 fetuses were scanned at 19 and 34-weeks gestation, on a KretzGE 3DUS system. Datasets of the uppermost fetal thigh were acquired at each scan and novel techniques were used to measure fat/skin, muscle and femur volumes. Using STATA 9.2, linear regression was used to relate maternal characteristics to fetal tissue volumes and paired t-tests to examine gender differences.
Analysis revealed that at 19 weeks gestation within-subject coefficients of variation (CV) for linear and volume measurements were 0.6% and 3.4% respectively. Between-subject CV for linear measurements was 7.2% and 19.9% for volumes. This strongly suggests that the measured variability largely reflects biological variability between fetuses, rather than measurement error, confirming high reproducibility for 3DUS.
Correlations showed that larger mother’s muscle mass predicted grater muscle in her fetus (p<0.001, r=0.17) and larger maternal fat/skin layers predicted greater fat/skin layer sin her fetus (p<0.001, r=0.23). Taller mothers had offspring with grater femur length (p<0.001, r=0.20) and femur volume (p=0.005, r=0.13). An additional finding of importance involved 10% of the fetuses who showed splaying of the distal femoral metaphysis, a feature usually associated with vitamin D insufficiency. Relating maternal vitamin D concentrations to a measure of metaphyseal splaying of the fetal femur at 19 weeks gestation, lower maternal vitamin D status was associated with greater metaphyseal splaying (p=0.003, r=-0.15). This demonstrates that 3DUS may help us understand fetal musculo-skeletal development and will assist in the formulation of new interventions to improve prenatal development.
University of Southampton
Mahon, Pamela Ann
c56b2f8a-ca9c-4e43-b646-13f465a91c4d
2007
Mahon, Pamela Ann
c56b2f8a-ca9c-4e43-b646-13f465a91c4d
Mahon, Pamela Ann
(2007)
Ultrasound assessment of fetal musculo-skeletal development.
University of Southampton, Doctoral Thesis.
Record type:
Thesis
(Doctoral)
Abstract
Using three-dimensional ultrasound (3DUS) in pregnant women taking part in a population-based survey of maternal nutrition (Southampton Women’s survey), the relationship between maternal influences and fetal musculo-skeletal markers of disease was explored.
517 fetuses were scanned at 19 and 34-weeks gestation, on a KretzGE 3DUS system. Datasets of the uppermost fetal thigh were acquired at each scan and novel techniques were used to measure fat/skin, muscle and femur volumes. Using STATA 9.2, linear regression was used to relate maternal characteristics to fetal tissue volumes and paired t-tests to examine gender differences.
Analysis revealed that at 19 weeks gestation within-subject coefficients of variation (CV) for linear and volume measurements were 0.6% and 3.4% respectively. Between-subject CV for linear measurements was 7.2% and 19.9% for volumes. This strongly suggests that the measured variability largely reflects biological variability between fetuses, rather than measurement error, confirming high reproducibility for 3DUS.
Correlations showed that larger mother’s muscle mass predicted grater muscle in her fetus (p<0.001, r=0.17) and larger maternal fat/skin layers predicted greater fat/skin layer sin her fetus (p<0.001, r=0.23). Taller mothers had offspring with grater femur length (p<0.001, r=0.20) and femur volume (p=0.005, r=0.13). An additional finding of importance involved 10% of the fetuses who showed splaying of the distal femoral metaphysis, a feature usually associated with vitamin D insufficiency. Relating maternal vitamin D concentrations to a measure of metaphyseal splaying of the fetal femur at 19 weeks gestation, lower maternal vitamin D status was associated with greater metaphyseal splaying (p=0.003, r=-0.15). This demonstrates that 3DUS may help us understand fetal musculo-skeletal development and will assist in the formulation of new interventions to improve prenatal development.
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Published date: 2007
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Local EPrints ID: 466261
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/466261
PURE UUID: ed18d64f-8e1b-4876-8d11-db2be40c9f7d
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Date deposited: 05 Jul 2022 04:58
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 20:36
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Author:
Pamela Ann Mahon
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