Ultrasound Evaluation of the Relationship between Fetal Lateral Ventricle Diameter and Biometric Parameters

We aimed to assess the relationship between fetal lateral ventricular width and biometric measurements with ultrasound examination. A prospective case-control study on 178 fetuses as the control group with lateral ventricle diameter 4-7.9 mm and 80 fetuses as the case group with lateral ventricle diameter 8-12 mm. The study was done at Shariati hospital (Tehran, Iran), from 2015 to 2019. All patients underwent a detailed ultrasound exam according to ISUOG guideline and biometric measurements, including head circumference, biparietal diameter, abdominal circumference, femur length, humerus length, cerebellar diameter, cisterna magna width, average ultrasound gestational age, and estimated fetal weight were done. At least two follow-up ultrasound examinations at 26-28 weeks of gestational age and 32-34 weeks of gestational age were performed to evaluate ventricle size, and fetuses with lateral ventricle width above 12 mm were excluded. Then we compared fetal biometric measurements, mentioned above, in these groups. The mean maternal age, maternal past medical history, obstetrical history, mode of conception, fetal presentation, and fetal gender did not differ between the groups. We compared 187 patients as the control group with 80 patients as the case group at the same gestational age and gender. The mean ventricular width in the case group was 8.6 mm, and in the control group was 5.9mm. The study group had significantly larger head circumference, biparietal diameter, femur length, and estimated fetal weight compared with the control group (p <0.05). The lateral ventricular width is dependent on other biometric parameters such as head circumference, biparietal diameter, and generally fetal size, and larger ventricle width is associated with larger parameters.