Fetal anogenital distance using ultrasound

Ezra Aydin*, Rosemary Holt, Daren Chaplin, Rebecca Hawkes, Carrie Allison, Gerald Hackett, Topun Austin, Alex Tsompanidis, Lidia Gabis, Shimrit Ilana Ziv, Simon Baron-Cohen

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

16 Scopus citations

Abstract

Objective: This study measured anogenital distance (AGD) during late second/early third trimester of pregnancy to confirm previous findings that AGD can be measured noninvasively in the fetus using ultrasound and further showed differences in reference ranges between populations. Method: Two hundred ten singleton pregnancies were recruited at the Rosie Hospital, Cambridge, UK. A 2D ultrasound was performed between 26 and 30 weeks of pregnancy. AGD was measured from the centre of the anus to the base of the scrotum in males and to the posterior convergence of the fourchette in females. Results: A significant difference in AGD between males and females (P <.0001) was found, replicating previous results with a significant correlation between estimated fetal weight (EFW) and AGD in males only (P =.006). A comparison of AGD using reference data from an Israeli sample (n = 118) and our UK sample (n = 208) showed a significant difference (P <.0001) in both males and females, after controlling for gestational age (GA). Conclusion: Our results confirm that AGD measurement in utero using ultrasound is feasible. In addition, there are strong sex differences, consistent with previous suggestions that AGD is influenced by prenatal androgen exposure. AGD lengths differ between the UK and Israel; therefore, population-specific normative values may be required for accurate clinical assessments.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)527-535
Number of pages9
JournalPrenatal Diagnosis
Volume39
Issue number7
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 2019
Externally publishedYes

Funding

FundersFunder number
Autism Research Trust
Cambridge Central Research Ethics Committee
European Union's Horizon 2020
NIHR Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care East of England at Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust
Division of Research, Evaluation, and Communication16/EE/0004
Wellcome Trust
Horizon 2020 Framework Programme777394
European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations
Manchester Biomedical Research Centre
Medical Research Council
National Institute for Health Research
Department of Health & Social Care20904, 23787
Templeton World Charity Foundation
research and development department of Cambridge University

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