Routine ultrasonography in utero and school performance at age 8-9 years.
Salvesen KA
,Bakketeig LS,Eik-nes SH,
Undheim JO,Okland O
.
Department of Community Medicine and General Practice, University of Trondheim,
Norway. Most fetuses in developed countries are exposed in utero to
diagnostic ultrasound examination. Many pregnant women express concern about
whether the procedure harms the fetus. Since most routine ultrasound
examinations are done at weeks 16-22, when the fetal brain is developing
rapidly, effects on neuronal migration are possible. We have sought an
association between routine ultrasonography in utero and reading and writing
skills among children in primary school. At the age of 8 or 9 years,
children of women who had taken part in two randomised, controlled trials of
routine ultrasonography during pregnancy were followed-up. The women had
attended the clinics of 60 general practitioners in central Norway during
1979-81. The analysis of outcome was by intention to treat: 92% of the
"screened" group had been exposed to ultrasound screening at weeks 16-22,
and 95% of controls had not been so exposed, but there was some overlap.
2428 singletons were eligible for follow-up, and the school performance of
2011 children (83%) was assessed by their teachers on a scale of 1-7; the
teachers were unaware of ultrasound exposure status. A subgroup of 603
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