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Original ArticleOpen Access
Charts of Thai Fetal Biometries: 3. Femur Length
Titapant V 
,
Siwadune T ,
Boriboonlzirunsarn D ,
Sunsaneevithamkul P ,
Swasdimongkol S ,
Sutanthavibul A
,
Siwadune T ,
Boriboonlzirunsarn D ,
Sunsaneevithamkul P ,
Swasdimongkol S ,
Sutanthavibul A A cross-sectional study was conducted in order to construct a new reference chart for
Thai fetal femur length (FL). A total of 621 normal pregnant women between 12-41 weeks of
gestation and their fetuses were enrolled. Measurements were made once at a randomly
assigned gestational age specifically for the purpose of this study only. Femur length data were
available in 608 measurements due to unfavorable fetal position in some cases. Linear regression
technique was used to model separately the mean and standard deviation as functions of gesta-
tional age. Reference centiles were constructed from a combination of both models, assuming
the data were normally distributed. A new reference centiles chart for FL is presented and com-
pared with previously published data. While our derived centiles were clearly lower than those
from Western studies, they were found comparable with those from a Thai study. This demon-
strated the important effect of racial differences between populations on fetal biometries and
elucidates the need to develop fetal biometries charts specifically for each region.
Key word
: Fetal Biometries, Femur Length, Reference Centiles
Thai fetal femur length (FL). A total of 621 normal pregnant women between 12-41 weeks of
gestation and their fetuses were enrolled. Measurements were made once at a randomly
assigned gestational age specifically for the purpose of this study only. Femur length data were
available in 608 measurements due to unfavorable fetal position in some cases. Linear regression
technique was used to model separately the mean and standard deviation as functions of gesta-
tional age. Reference centiles were constructed from a combination of both models, assuming
the data were normally distributed. A new reference centiles chart for FL is presented and com-
pared with previously published data. While our derived centiles were clearly lower than those
from Western studies, they were found comparable with those from a Thai study. This demon-
strated the important effect of racial differences between populations on fetal biometries and
elucidates the need to develop fetal biometries charts specifically for each region.
Key word
: Fetal Biometries, Femur Length, Reference Centiles
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