Radiologists in several centres across the country are engaged in formalising Indian standards for assessing the well-being of babies in the mother’s womb.
Now, the standards of measurements of the baby's growth are the normals used in the West. The machines, most of which are imported, are also calibrated to give the normal measurements of babies in the West. The Indian standards for foetus growth would be ready soon. Work is on for this at 10 centres spread across the country.
Speaking to The Hindu , K. Mohanan, president of the Indian Radiological and Imaging Association (IRIA), said that research groups in the foetal radiology wing would also come up with standards in the radiological reporting format.
“We can predict foetal anomalies and prognosis based on certain measurements. But the data is Western. This may not be truly applicable to the Indian population,” Dr. Mohanan said.
One classic example was the absence of the nasal bone in the 12-16 weeks of pregnancy as being one of the markers for down syndrome in the West. However, this anomaly in the West is not considered important enough in the Japanese population as the nasal bone could develop by the 20th week in the foetus in the country.
In India, the foetus that shows the absence of the nasal bone in the early weeks, along with other markers, are sent for chromosomal analysis for confirmation of down syndrome. In order to formalise Indian standards, radiological readings for such markers would be required to be studied and analysed to provide parameters to detect such anomaly.
“At times, the measurements could be the same as in the West and in many other cases, we could have different parameters of ‘normal’ growth”, Dr. Mohanan said.
Radiological data on foetus was available in large volumes, but this was not consolidated, he said. The professional body of the radiologists had taken up the responsibility of bringing about consolidation of such data from which the Indian standards could emerge.
There could be significant differences in the growth, weight and blood flow parameters in the foetus compared with the West. Radiologist Dr. Amel Antony said that there were some basic parameters such as the head circumference, head diameter, abdominal circumference and length of the thigh bone besides the blood flow in the vessels of the foetus, mother's uterine connections that determined the health of the foetus.
