Correlation between placental thickness and estimated fetal weight in Nigerian Women

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between placental thickness and estimated fetal weight in normal pregnant Nigerian women. Six hundred and fortyfive Nigerian women with singleton pregnancies in the second and third trimesters were studied by transabdominal ultrasound. Fetal weight was estimated by measurement of biparietal diameter (BPD) and abdominal circumference (AC). Gestational age was estimated by measuring the BPD and fetal femur length (FL). Placental thickness was measured in a longitudinal section at the point of insertion of the umbilical cord. Results showed that both placental thickness and estimated fetal weight increased in fairly linear manner with gestational age. There were significant positive correlations between placental thickness and estimated fetal weight in the second and third trimesters (p< 0.05). Regression analysis yielded linear mathematical relationships between estimated fetal weight and placental thickness in the second and third trimesters, but the marked variations in fetal weights corresponding to particular placental thickness limit the usefulness of this relationship.