assessment of a simple ultrasonographic method in estimating fetal weight

estimating fetal weight in utero, for better management of pregnancy and appropriate timing of delivery especially in high-risk pregnancies is necessary. our purpose to evaluate a simple method in estimating fetal weight in iranian pregnant patients and also to compare was with a previous western study. this study was carried out in arash hospital, tehran university of medical sciences in 1996-99. in a descriptive-analytic study that was done prospectively on 464 pregnant patients, ultrasonic measurement of biparietal diameter (bpd), mean abdominal diameter (mad), and femur length (fl) performed close to delivery was conducted. birth weight also was identified. statistical analysis was done using multiple linear regression on the data and also student&apos;s t-test for comparison. mean birth weight was 2320 gr. the outcome of linear regression analysis was the following model: weight (gr)=95.8×fl (cm)+25×mad (cm)-15.6×bpd (cm)-4632.1. the effect of all parameters were statistically significant (p<0.02). a fetal weight estimating table was also developed. t-test analysis showed a significant difference (p<0.05) in some final ranks of table (weight estimations>4000 gr) in comparison with the rose and mc callum study. our study showed that ultrasound using the sum of bpd, mad and fl is a precise method in fetal weight estimation. application of other biometric measurements may be needed for better elucidation especially in small and large for gestational age fetuses.