Ultrasound Evaluation of Placental Thickness: Insights From an Observational Study and Implications for Fetal Growth Assessment.

ABSTRACT

Introduction A precise gestational age (GA) assessment is critical to monitoring fetal growth and planning delivery. Any disorder that affects the placenta will affect the fetus. Hence, the placenta serves as an indicator of fetal development. So, placental thickness (PT) measurement can be utilized as a parameter in the precise estimation of gestational age and prediction of the fetal outcome. Ultrasound (USG) remains the preferred method for detecting placental abnormalities due to its benefits. This study aimed to evaluate placental thickness by USG in various GA subgroups and to see the correlation of PT with GA and fetal outcome. Methods Cross-sectional observational study with short follow-up. A total of 296 antenatal women between 14 weeks and 40 weeks underwent USG to measure placental thickness and were followed up until delivery. The collected data was compiled systematically and analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 25 (released 2017; IBM Corp., Armonk, New York, United States). The level of significance was taken as p<0.05. Results The mean placental thickness progressed from 1.8 cm to 3.5 cm as the gestational age advanced from 14 weeks to 35 weeks and six days. After that, it decreased until delivery (r-value = 0.531 (<0.8), p-value <0.001). PT was positively correlated only with birth weight (p-value 0.013) amongst all fetal outcome parameters. Conclusion GA can be determined using PT with the help of regression techniques. PT can be used as a replacement when a particular parameter of the composite growth formula is fallacious. The PT increase rate is a more reliable indicator than the actual PT to predict birth weight.