Antenatal measurement of scapula length using ultrasound.

In 76 fetuses from 14 weeks of gestation through to term, measurements of the scapula were made using ultrasound. Statistical analysis of the results revealed a highly significant correlation between scapula measurements and gestational age, biparietal diameter, fetal femur length and fetal abdominal circumference (r = 0.93, 0.91, 0.95, and 0.91, respectively). In particular, values related to length of the scapula were highly correlated with femur length. These findings show that this measurement is useful as an adjunct to assessing development as well as growth of the femur and dating parameters of the fetus in utero.