J Korean Med Sci.  2004 Feb;19(1):32-36. 10.3346/jkms.2004.19.1.32.

The Distribution of Fetal Nuchal Translucency Thickness in Normal Korean Fetuses

• Chung JH
• Yang JH
• Song MJ
• Cho JY
• Lee YH
• Park SY
• Moon MJ
• Lim HJ
• Choi JS
• Kim JO
• Shin JS
• Ahn HK
• Han JY
• Kim MY
• Choi KH
• Ryu HM

• KMID: 1785690
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3346/jkms.2004.19.1.32

Abstract

The aim of present study was to establish normative data for the distribution of nuchal translucency (NT) thickness in normal Korean fetuses. The data were collected from pregnant women with singleton pregnancies in whom fetal ultrasound was performed and the fetal NT thickness was measured between 11 and 14 weeks of gestation. Among them, a total of 2,577 fetuses with a known normal outcome were included in this study. The distribution of multiple of median (MoM) values of the NT thickness with crown-rump length (CRL) in 10-mm intervals and the 95th percentile of MoM were calculated with the linear regression method. The present study showed that NT measurements increase with increasing CRL and a false positive rate increases with increasing gestational age. Therefore, a fixed cut-off point through the first trimester was not appropriate and each NT measurement should be examined according to the gestational age. The present study offers normative data of the fetal NT thickness in a Korean population, which can be used as reference for screening chromosomal aberrations or other congenital abnormalities in the first trimester.

Keyword

Nuchal Translucency; Pregnancy Trimester, First; Crown-rump Length; Ultrasonography

MeSH Terms

Adult
Chromosome Aberrations
Crown-Rump Length
Female
Fetus/*physiology
*Gestational Age
Human
Korea
Linear Models
Pregnancy
Pregnancy Trimester, First
Pregnancy Trimester, Second
Ultrasonics
Ultrasonography, Prenatal

Figure

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  Fig. 1 Measurement of the nuchal translucency (NT) thickness on transvaginal ultrasound scan in 12.0 weeks sized fetus.

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  Fig. 2 The distribution of nuchal translucency (NT) thickness in normal fetuses with crown-rump length.

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