ISSN: 2575-9981
Authors: Kalu O*, Frank O and John A
Some maternal fetal disorders can be detected or revealed for further investigation from data obtained from the placenta thickness. Suboptimal placenta thickness or enlarged placenta may be a pointer to disorder such as anaemia, hypertension or diabetes, growth retardation among others. Small placenta is associated with malnutrition and increased risk of chronic disease later in life. The aim of this study is to determine the normal thickness of placenta in Nigeria. Any placenta thickness outside this value should be further investigated for possible maternal or fetal anomalies. Four hundred subjects were selected by convenience sampling after passing the inclusion criteria, and educational status required. The abdomen of pregnant women with gestational age of 16 to 40 weeks referred from antennal clinic and who gave consent to participate in the study were scanned. The scan ruled out abnormalities and measured the gestational age using fermur length (FL) and Biparetal Diameter (BPD) to compare with menstrual gestational age (MGA). The placenta thickness was measured at the thickest point of the umbilical cord insertion into the placenta. Result showed that placenta thickness for GA of 16 to 40 weeks was from 15 to 39mm (SD: 5.62). The study suggests that pregnancy with placenta thickness outside this predictive thickness should be subjected to further investigation to rule out maternal or fetal abnormalities associated with enlarged placenta or subnormal placenta thickness.
Keywords: Thickness; Anaemia; Placental; Menstrual Gestational Age (MGA)
