Background & Objectives: Among the var ious methods used in the estimation of intrauterine fetal weight, sonographic fetal weight estimation is the one and has become an important component of antenatal care. The study was conducted with objective to assess the accuracy and reliability of ultrasound estimation of fetal weight in women with a singleton term pregnancy. Materials & Methods: This was a prospective cross-sectional study of 120 women with singleton term pregnancies. Ultrasound estimated fetal weight was calculated by measuring the biparietal diameter and abdominal circumference. The estimated fetal weight was compared to the actual birth weight post delivery. The correlation between estimated fetal weight and actual birth weight was assessed by Pearson's correlation coefficient and the accuracy of sonographic fetal weight estimation was measured using mean error, mean absolute error, mean percentage error, mean absolute percentage error and proportion of estimates within 10% of actual birth weight. Results were tested at error level set at p ≤ 0.05. Results: Mean estimated and actual birth weights were 2863.5 ± 441.9 g and 2822.5 ± 407.7 g respectively. There was a strong positive correlation between estimated fetal weight and actual birth weight (r= 0.71, p <0.001). The mean percentage error and mean absolute percentage error of ultrasound fetal weight estimations were 1.9 ± 11.4% and 8.8 ± 7.5% respectively. Conclusion: Sonogr aphically estimated fetal weight had str ong positive correlation with actual birth weight and thus sonography can be used in the estimation of fetal weight for the better perinatal outcome. Key words: Actual bir th weight; Ultr asonogr aphically estimated fetal weight Citation: Pr asad VN, Poudel P, Chhetr y PK. Accur acy of sonogr aphic fetal weight estimation in a tertiary care hospital in Bharatpur, Nepal. JCMS Nepal. 2016;12(4):174-8. 175 weight estimation algorithm in College of Medical Sciences, Bharatpur.
MATERIALS AND METHODSThis was a prospective cross-sectional study conducted during the period January 2015 to January 2016 at College of Medical SciencesTeaching Hospital (COMS TH), Bharatpur. The study included 120 normal antenatal women at term pregnancy (37 to 42 weeks of gestation) who were assessed clinically at the department of obstetrics and gynaecology and referred to the radiology department for ultrasonography. Informed consent of the patient and approval from the ethical committee of the institution was obtained prior to the procedure. The exclusion criteria were multiple pregnancy, IUGR (Intrauterine Growth Retardation), stillbirth, congenital fetal malformations, hydrops fetalis, diabetes mellitus in mother and delivery after seven days of ultrasonic fetal weight estimation. Ultrasonography of each case included in the study was done using Samsung Medison ACCUVIX A30 ultrasound equipment with a scanner frequency of 3.5 MHz to assess fetal viability, fetal presentation, biparietal diameter, head circumference, abdominal circumference, femur l...