Biparietal size.

For every person there is nothing more important than his family and the health of its members. Therefore, so much attention is being paid to providing high-quality medical care today. Especially this issue is relevant in relation to planning and conducting pregnancy. Control over its course is carried out with the purpose of preserving and strengthening the health of both the mother and the fetus.

Today in the world there are many different methods and methods for monitoring the course of pregnancy. Among them, ultrasound diagnostics are most often used. This is primarily due to the harmlessness of such research and its safety for a growing organism.

With ultrasound, the main indicators are the diameter of the abdomen and chest of the fetus, the length of the thigh, and also the biparietal size. These indicators are the most informative and characterize the developing changes in the fetus most fully.

What is biparietal size? This indicator is determined by the visualization of echoes at the level of the third ventricle of the brain. BDP characterizes the actual distance between the opposite walls (outer contours of the parietal bones of the skull). This size is a direct characteristic of the size of the head. It is used to assess the possibility of passing the head through the birth canal.

In addition, the distance between the outer contours of the frontal and occipital bones, between their distant points, is measured.

The biparietal size of the fetal head is determined in the second and third trimesters of pregnancy. This is the main indicator of the development status of the fetus. Why is it used?

The fact is that the development of the brain (the increase in the size of the cranium) can directly indicate a normal or abnormal development of the nervous system.

A distinctive feature of this indicator is the slowing of its changes with time in the development of the fetus. So, biparietal size, or rather the rate of its increase at 14-15 weeks of pregnancy is four millimeters per week. By the end of pregnancy, the rate of increase in this indicator is significantly reduced and is only 1.3 millimeters per week.

The biparietal size of the fetal head allows not only to judge the development of the fetus, but it is also a direct basis for determining the duration of pregnancy (in the absence of other possible options). In this case, BDP corresponds to the frontal-occipital diameter and we are already talking about a new index - the head index.

It should be borne in mind that it is the knowledge of the pregnancy period that can correctly assess both normal and pathological changes. Among the latter most often - miscarriage or pregnancy.

The biparietal size is determined and in order to select the necessary mode of delivery (via natural birth canal or using caesarean section). In the presence of data on the size of the child's head and information about the size and condition of the mother's birth canal, analysis and correlation of sizes are carried out. If the birth canal is narrowed or the fetus head is too large (which causes a high risk of injury to both the mother and the child during childbirth), a decision is made to perform a maternity operation.

Depending on which of the dimensions (the distance between the outer or between the inner parts of the parietal bones) is determined, there are some differences in the interpretation of the results obtained.

Thus, to determine the development of the fetal organism, there is a qualitative, fast, and, most importantly, a safe method. The determination of the biparietal size of the fetal head, as well as other indicators, is now widely used in obstetrics and gynecology.