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Updated: Jun 4, 2026
Human Egg Maturity Assessment and Its Clinical Application
Published on: August 19, 2019
Assisted reproduction for the validation of gestational age assessment methods
Hind Beydoun1, Bethrand Ugwu, Sergio Oehninger
1Graduate Program in Public Health, Eastern Virginia Medical School, Norfolk, VA, USA. baydouha@evms.edu
Insights
Preterm birth (PTB) is a major cause of infant death. This review evaluates methods for determining gestational age, crucial for classifying PTB and improving infant health outcomes.
Area of Science:
- Obstetrics and Gynecology
- Neonatal Medicine
- Reproductive Medicine
Background:
- Preterm birth (PTB) is a significant global challenge, contributing to infant morbidity and mortality.
- Accurate gestational age assessment is essential for classifying PTB and guiding clinical management.
- Existing methods for determining gestational age have limitations in precision and reliability.
Purpose of the Study:
- To critically evaluate the evidence supporting various gestational age assessment methods.
- To compare the accuracy of last menstrual period, early ultrasound, and post-natal assessments.
- To explore the utility of assisted reproduction treatment (ART) populations for validating gestational age methods.
Main Methods:
- Systematic literature review of studies assessing gestational age determination methods.
- Comparative analysis of accuracy and reliability across different techniques.
- Exploration of ART data for precise gestational age calculation.
Main Results:
- Ultrasound before 20 weeks of gestation is generally more accurate than last menstrual period dating.
- Post-natal assessments have limited accuracy for determining gestational age.
- Assisted reproduction treatments offer a unique opportunity for highly accurate gestational age determination.
Conclusions:
- Accurate gestational age assessment is critical for understanding and managing preterm birth.
- Assisted reproduction treatments provide a valuable resource for validating and refining gestational age measurement techniques.
- Further research utilizing ART populations can enhance the reliability of PTB classification and prevention strategies.
Abstract:
Despite major achievements in medicine, preterm birth (PTB) remains a leading cause of infant morbidity and mortality, worldwide. Research efforts have been devoted towards a better understanding of the multifactorial aetiology of PTB and its subtypes, with the purpose of prevention and control. The availability of valid and reliable gestational age data is a prerequisite for PTB classification. Pregnancies conceived through assisted reproduction treatments provide an opportunity for the exact determination of gestational age using date of delivery and dates of fertilization or implantation. The purpose of this review article is to evaluate the current evidence for or against the various methods that can be applied to measure gestational age, namely the first day of the last menstrual period, ultrasound before 20 weeks of gestation and post-natal assessments, and to propose the use of assisted reproduction treatments populations for further validation of these methods.
