Sonographic measurement of fetal humeral soft tissue thickness in pregnancy complicated by GDM.

ABSTRACT

Sonographic measurement of fetal humeral soft tissue thickness (STT) was performed in 93 women with gestational diabetes mellitus during the third trimester. STT measurements revealed accelerated growth in large for gestational age infants at 31 wk gestation. This new measurement proved to be the most accurate predictor of excessive fetal size compared with other standard ultrasound parameters (sensitivity 82%, specificity 95%, positive predictive value 90%). Asymmetrical growth was more evident in infants with large STT measurements in utero. Humeral STT measurement may distinguish large fetuses with truncal obesity from those that are symmetrically large, thereby allowing prediction of risk for birth trauma before delivery.