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Fetal shoulder measurements with MRI
B Kastler1, A Gangi, C Mathelin
1Radiologie B Hopitaux, Strasbourg, France.
Objective:
We studied the ability of MRI to predict fetal shoulder width (FSW).
Materials And Methods:
In 30 patients referred for MR pelvimetry, measurement of FSW was performed and compared with caliper measurements at term. We report here the feasibility of a method using axial and coronal MR images oriented to the fetal body axes.
Results:
Shoulder width by MRI (mean = 12.76 +/- 1.42 cm) correlated significantly with postnatal orthopedic caliper measurements (mean = 12.99 +/- 1.37 cm; r = 0.955, SEE = 4.29 mm, p = 0.00001) and with birth weight (r = 0.63, p = 0.0005). Mean paired differences showed a statistically significant 2.3 +/- 4.2 mm underestimation of FSW by MRI (p = 0.01). This reasonably quick nonionizing technique seems to have the potential for evaluating shoulder dystocia and deserves further evaluation.