Effects of Serial Plotting on Fundal Height Charts on Identification and Outcomes of Small for Gestational Age Infants

Summary

Fetal Growth Restriction (FGR) remains a challenging topic for clinicians, researchers and policy makers, and a central question is how to improve the performance of screening during pregnancy in order to provide appropriate care. The recent recommendations and reporting of French results have raised awareness of the need to improve growth screening in France. Based on the existing literature, the hypothesis is that a greater investment in growth monitoring based on a more rigorous interpretation of information available from routinely implemented clinical assessment and ultrasound will allow for significant gains in detection. The current context provides the opportunity to evaluate the application of a training program for serial plotting of Symphysis Fundal Height (SFH) and Estimated Fetal Weight (EFW) on customised charts. This intervention is consistent with French guidelines which support the monthly measurement of SFH, the use of Customised Fetal Weight Reference (CFWR), in particular for referral US (Ultrasound) examinations, and the longitudinal interpretation of growth. These guidelines were recently restated in the clinical practice recommendations issued by the French College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

The intervention tested in the trial will include training of professionals for standardization of SFH measurement, introduction of software, and recommendations for growth interpretation and referral examinations. Expected benefits are an increase in antenatal identification of growth restricted fetuses without an increase in the FP rate. Such a program will allow identified Small for Gestational Age (SGA) fetuses to receive appropriate antenatal care. This intervention could double the detection rate of SGA births from 20 to 40%, corresponding to 32 000 infants nationwide annually for whom antenatal care could be improved.

Main objective: To test the effectiveness of the serial plotting of SFH and EFW measures on customised percentile charts supported by provider training, versus standard antenatal care, to improve the detection of FGR. The aim of the investigators is to double rates of antenatal detection from 20 to 40% among SGA infants, defined as a birthweight under the 10th percentile for GA.

Conditions

• Small for Gestational Age

Interventions

OTHER

intervention group

The intervention will include 1. clinician training sessions, designed to raise awareness of the importance of monitoring for FGR and standardizing SFH measurements 2. the use of SFH charts and EFW customised charts, built with the same software allowing all information to be recorded on an unique document 3. the use of the EFW values mentioned on US report, to plot EFW on the customised chart 4. and explicit recommendations about interpretation of longitudinal values of SFH and EFW measurements. If slopes through consecutive plots are not parallel to either of the predicted centile lines (90th, 50th, 10th) on the chart, and either of the centile lines are 'crossed', fetal biometry by ultrasound scan will be recommended.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Institut National de la Santé Et de la Recherche Médicale, France

  collaborator OTHER_GOV

• University Hospital, Grenoble

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Anne Ego, PhD · University Hospital, Grenoble

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

OTHER

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Sex

FEMALE

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2018-01-01

Primary Completion

2019-01-01

Completion

2020-01-01

Countries

• France

Study Locations