Re: FW: Need info on measurements....

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This is interesting, and thanks for sharing. I hope someone else who understands this better than I could share with us what it really means. For what its worth, here is my interpretation of it:

At Tue, 13 Jul 1999, Cindy wrote:

>I was just looking over my last level !! US and there is one measurement
>that is starred. Here is what it says: Biparietal diameter is 6.2 cm and
>95% at 23 weeks.

Hmm... Biparietal, I'm *guessing* this is a cross-the-head measurement, which measured 6.2 cm long, and is 95% of "normal" (or shall I say "percentile" just as babies are usually placed in these percentiles, meaning the "average" baby would be at 100%, being average, and a slightly smaller baby would be less than 100%, and a slightly larger baby would measure at close to or more than 100%, I'd say the 95% would not be cause for concern.) "at 23 weeks" is the place in the pregnancy that they are referencing from as obviously it would not be good to compare measurements of a baby at 23 weeks with one at 20 weeks or 25 weeks gestation. So therefore your baby compared to the average 23 week gestation baby would be about 5% less in head size (or whatever the Biparietal measurement is) than an average baby. Not a big difference.

>Femur length is 4.1cm and 50% at 23 weeks.

Ah, a word I know! Femur is a bone in the leg. :-) The thigh bone, to be exact. Your baby's thigh bone measures 4.1 cm, and is about half that of the "average" baby at 23 weeks. Meaning you could have a short baby, but this varies much I'd think because some people are tall from waist to shoulder (long trunk) but short legs, others are short waisted and have longer legs. I don't know the significance of this.

> It says that
>the indices for FL/BPD ratio is .66 range is (.71-.87) Is something like
>this pretty common or does this sound like something to be concerned with?

OK, acronyms, can't spell that word much less get a clue as to what the FL/BPF ratio is! :-( Oh, wait, I just "got" it! Hee hee... this is fun... trying to decipher these things... I'll bet the "FL" stands for "Femur Length" and the "BPD" would stand for "BiParietal Diameter", and this is a ratio because it is a comparison of the relationship to each other. One number over the other. Take the "FL" which was 4.1 and put it over the BPD, which is 6.2 and your ratio between the one and the other is: .66 (66 percent). The range being (.71 to .87) would be what I'd say is the "average" for a baby of 23 weeks. Therefore, with both measurements taken together, your baby "averages" to be about 66 percent of what an "average" baby would measure. Does this make sense? I hope so!

Obviously, your doctors will be watching these measurements carefully and probably have some set guidelines for when a number reaches a certain percentage as to what it may mean in terms of your baby's health and condition. Also, as we all know these measurements are used to date a pregnancy as well. A wrong date would certainly lead to incorrect measurement comparisons between an "average" baby of the same gestation.

>Thanks for always answering my questions!
>
>Cindy and baby Cameron

You're welcome, Cindy, this is fun and educational for me. I hope I don't mislead anyone with my answers, though, because I'm not a medial professional and besides, everyone makes mistakes. Just keep this in mind when reading these replies! Please keep us updated. Also, one more thing, I know that if it were me, I'd be asking the US tech and/or my doctor what those meant exactly and would not stop asking questions until I thought I got a satisfactory answer. Certainly your own medical professionals are the best to answer questions about your own care! Why not ask them? If you don't want to call, write down your questions and ask at your next appointment. My doctors usually return phone calls late in the day or at lunch time. But most my questions I ask while there. :-) Keep us up to date on your progress! Tell me if you learn anything that I said was wrong! :-)

Mars (and baby-to-be 2/10/00)

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