Can fetal iliac bone measurement be used as a marker for Downs syndrome screening?
OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to assess the application of iliac bone length measurement in screening for Down’s syndrome. DESIGN: Measurement of fetal iliac bone length was prospectively carried out in 609 pregnant women at the time of amniocentesis, and correlated with the results of karyotype analysis. SUBJECTS: Following exclusion of cases with chromosomal abnormalities other than trisomy 21, cases with intrauterine growth impairment or structural abnormalities and cases with incomplete follow-up, 466 karyotypically normal fetuses and 14 fetuses with trisomy 21 were included in the analysis. METHODS: Centiles, standard deviations, expected values by means of linear regression analysis of the iliac bone, in relation to the biparietal diameter, were calculated in the normal fetuses. In order to identify pregnancies at risk for trisomy 21, where a ‘longer’ than normal iliac bone was expected, three cut-offs previously proposed by other authors and three new criteria were employ
