Current source mapping used
| Calculator output | Current source family | How it is used |
| BPD percentile / z-score / median-equivalent GA | Hadlock 1984 | Uses the published parameter equation and SD for gestational-age z-score support. Median-equivalent GA is displayed as a descriptive 50th-percentile equivalent and should not be used for redating. |
| Cephalic index | Derived head-shape ratio | Calculated as BPD/OFD × 100 when both entries are available; interpreted using the commonly used fetal range approximately 70–86%, with low values flagged as dolichocephaly pattern and high values as brachycephaly pattern. |
| HC/AC, FL/AC, AC − HC, BPD/AC, AC/FL, EFW/AC, and EFW/FL | Derived proportionality ratios | Calculated from entered core biometry and/or EFW. HC/AC and AC − HC describe head-abdomen proportionality; FL/AC describes femur-abdomen proportionality; BPD/AC and AC/FL are shown as shoulder-dystocia contextual ratios; EFW/AC and EFW/FL describe mass-to-abdomen and mass-to-femur proportionality. These are contextual flags and are not used as standalone diagnoses or delivery triggers. |
| HC percentile / z-score / median-equivalent GA | Hadlock 1984 | Uses the published parameter equation and SD for gestational-age z-score support. Median-equivalent GA is displayed as a descriptive 50th-percentile equivalent and should not be used for redating. |
| AC percentile / z-score / median-equivalent GA | Hadlock 1984 | Uses the published parameter equation and SD for gestational-age z-score support. Median-equivalent GA is displayed as a descriptive 50th-percentile equivalent and should not be used for redating. |
| FL percentile / z-score / median-equivalent GA | Hadlock 1984 | Uses the published parameter equation and SD for gestational-age z-score support. Median-equivalent GA is displayed as a descriptive 50th-percentile equivalent and should not be used for redating. |
| Hadlock EFW percentile / median-equivalent GA | Hadlock 1985 / 1991 | Calculated from biometry using the selected Hadlock formula and compared with the published in utero weight standard. Median-equivalent GA is displayed as a descriptive weight-age equivalent, not as a redating recommendation. |
| Umbilical artery PI | INTERGROWTH-21st / Drukker 2020 | Used for gestational-age centile and z-score support and integrated FGR prompts. UA S/D uses the exact published INTERGROWTH-21st equation for skewness, mean, and coefficient of variation. |
| MCA PI / CPR | Baschat & Gembruch 2003 | Used as supportive redistribution markers rather than primary delivery triggers. |
| Head panel HC percentile / z-score | INTERGROWTH-21st fetal standard | Uses the exact published official equations for HC median and SD by exact gestational age; kept separate from the Hadlock core panel. |
| Jeanty / Chervenak legacy HC z-score | Chervenak 1984 Table III / Jeanty fetal head biometry | Uses table-anchored interpolation of head perimeter SD bands from 20 to 42 weeks to preserve continuity with older protocols while matching the uploaded source table. Displayed as a legacy comparator, not as the sole modern HC standard. |
| Head / thorax / GI / renal / skeletal panels | Mixed organ-specific references | Quantitative z-score and percentile outputs are interpolation-supported organ-specific estimates for panel use; thoracic circumference and thoracic length now use Chitkara table-matched percentile interpolation with an estimated z-score anchored to the table centiles; bladder longitudinal diameter now uses the Fontanella 2021 largest-LBD nomogram (15-35 weeks) with table-interpolated 5th/50th/95th centiles and contextual LUTO interpretation. TCD now uses the Pinar 2002 gestational-age mean and ±2 SD table. Kidney AP, transverse, and length dimensions are reported side-specifically using the Chitty 2003 framework. |
Core biometry and weight references
Hadlock FP, Deter RL, Harrist RB, Park SK. Estimating fetal age: computer-assisted analysis of multiple fetal growth parameters. Radiology. 1984;152:497-501. PubMed: PMID: 6739822. This is the source for the BPD, HC, AC, and FL gestational-age equations and SD values used for the current individual Hadlock parameter z-scores.
Hadlock FP, Harrist RB, Sharman RS, Deter RL, Park SK. Estimation of fetal weight with the use of head, body, and femur measurements-a prospective study. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 1985;151:333-337. PubMed: PMID 3881966. This is the classic Hadlock EFW formula paper underlying the HC+AC+FL and BPD+AC+FL pathways.
Hadlock FP, Harrist RB, Martinez-Poyer J. In utero analysis of fetal growth: a sonographic weight standard. Radiology. 1991;181:129-133. PubMed: PMID 1887021. This is the gestational-age weight standard used to contextualize EFW percentiles.
Comparator standards and alternate frameworks
INTERGROWTH-21st fetal growth standard. The earlier builds referenced INTERGROWTH-21st style head support. In the current repaired version, the active core BPD/HC/AC/FL percentiles are Hadlock-based because you specifically asked for Hadlock 4 alignment. If you want, I can add a visible framework toggle so users can switch between Hadlock core parameter percentiles and INTERGROWTH-21st comparator support.
Papageorghiou AT, Ohuma EO, Altman DG, et al. International standards for fetal growth based on serial ultrasound measurements: the Fetal Growth Longitudinal Study of the INTERGROWTH-21st Project. Lancet. 2014;384:869-879. PubMed: PMID 25209488.
Jeanty P, Cousaert E, Hobbins JC, Tack B, Bracken M, Cantraine F. A longitudinal study of fetal head biometry. Am J Perinatol. 1984 Jan;1(2):118-128. This is the underlying longitudinal fetal head biometry reference.
Chervenak FA, Jeanty P, Cantraine F, et al. The diagnosis of fetal microcephaly. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 1984;149:512-517. The legacy Jeanty / Chervenak HC z-score anchored to the published Table III head-perimeter SD bands from 20 to 42 weeks.
Doppler references
Drukker L, Staines-Urias E, Villar J, et al. International gestational age-specific centiles for umbilical artery Doppler indices: a longitudinal prospective cohort study of the INTERGROWTH-21st Project. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2020;222:602.e1-15. PubMed: PMID: 31954701. This is the current backbone for UA PI gestational-age centiles and z-scores.
Acharya G, Wilsgaard T, Berntsen GK, Maltau JM, Kiserud T. Reference ranges for serial measurements of umbilical artery Doppler indices in the second half of pregnancy. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2005;192:937-944. PubMed: PMID: 15746695.
Baschat AA, Gembruch U. The cerebroplacental Doppler ratio revisited. Ultrasound Obstet Gynecol. 2003;21:124-127. PubMed: PMID: 12601831.
Mari G, Deter RL, Carpenter RL, et al. Noninvasive diagnosis by Doppler ultrasonography of fetal anemia due to maternal red-cell alloimmunization. N Engl J Med. 2000;342:9-14. PubMed: PMID: 10620643.
FGR definitions and management references
Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine (SMFM) Consult Series #52. Diagnosis and management of fetal growth restriction. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2020. PubMed: PMID 32407785.
ACOG Practice Bulletin No. 227. Fetal Growth Restriction. 2021. PubMed: PMID: 33481528.
Head and facial biometry references
Chitty LS, Altman DG. Charts of fetal size: head measurements. BJOG. 1994. PubMed: PMID 8297866.
Merz E, Welter C, Sillek U, Pittmann P, Bahlmann F, Weber G. Orbital diameter, inner orbital distance and outer orbital distance: a growth model for fetal orbital parameters. Ultraschall in Med.
1995;16:12-17. This calculator uses the full Merz table-based
5th/50th/95th centiles with interpolation for inner and outer orbital
distances.
Pinar H, Burke SH, Huang CW, Singer DB, Sung CJ. Reference values for transverse cerebellar diameter throughout gestation. Pediatr Dev Pathol. 2002 Sep-Oct;5(5):489-94. . PMID: 12192430..
Otto C, Platt LD. The fetal mandible measurement: an objective determination of fetal jaw size. Ultrasound Obstet Gynecol. 1991. PubMed: PMID 12797096. In this calculator, Otto mandible assessment is based on the gestational-age table of mean and 95% prediction limits, with interpolation between gestational weeks.
Thoracic references
Chitkara U, Rosenberg J, Chervenak FA, et al. Prenatal sonographic assessment of the fetal thorax: normal values. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 1987. PubMed: PMID 3555087.
Yarkoni S, Schmidt W, Jeanty P, et al. Clavicular measurement: a new biometric parameter for fetal evaluation. J Ultrasound Med. 1985. PubMed: PMID 3903198.
Sherer DM, Plessinger MA, Allen TA. Fetal scapular length in the ultrasonographic assessment of gestational age. J Ultrasound Med. 1994. PubMed: PMID 7933014.
GI, liver, renal, and skeletal references
Goldstein I, Reece EA, Yarkoni S, Wan M, Green JLJ, Hobbins JC. Growth of the fetal stomach in normal pregnancies. Obstet Gynecol.
1987;70:641-644.PMID: 3306513.
Kepkep K, Tuncay YA, Goynumer G, Yetim G. Nomogram of the fetal gastric size development in normal pregnancy. J Perinat Med.
2005;33:336-339.PMID: 16207120.
Lap CCM, Voskuilen CS, Pistorius LR, et al. Reference curves for the normal fetal small bowel and colon diameters; their usefulness in fetuses with suspected dilated bowel. J Matern Fetal Neonatal Med. 2020. PubMed: PMID 29985072.
Fontanella F, Groen H, Duin LK, et al. Z-scores of fetal bladder size for antenatal differential diagnosis between posterior urethral valves and urethral atresia. Ultrasound Obstet Gynecol.
2021;58:875-881.PMID: 33864313.
Chitty LS, Altman DG. Charts of fetal size: kidney and renal pelvis measurements. Prenat Diagn. 2003. PubMed: PMID 14634973.
Brennan S, Kandasamy Y, Rudd D, Schneider M, Watson D. Fetal kidney charts of a novel measurement of the renal parenchymal thickness to evaluate fetal kidney growth and potential function. Prenat Diagn. 2020. PubMed: PMID: 32277493.
van Vuuren SH, Damen-Elias HAM, Stigter RH, et al. Size and volume charts of fetal kidney, renal pelvis and adrenal gland. Ultrasound Obstet Gynecol. 2012. PubMed: PMID 22581671.
Chitty LS, Altman DG. Charts of fetal size: limb bones. BJOG. 2002. PubMed: PMID 12197373.
Short femur / short humerus soft-marker references
Nyberg DA, Resta RG, Luthy DA, Hickok DE, Williams MA. Humerus and femur length shortening in the detection of Down's syndrome. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 1993;168:534-538. PubMed: PMID 8438923. This calculator uses BPD-based expected long-bone lengths to generate observed/expected ratios for short femur and short humerus soft-marker screening.
Prabhu M, Kuller JA, Biggio JR; Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine. SMFM Consult Series #57: Evaluation and management of isolated soft ultrasound markers for aneuploidy in the second trimester. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2021;225:B2-B15. PubMed: PMID 34171388. SMFM describes shortened humerus as observed/expected humeral length <0.90 and shortened femur as observed/expected femoral length <0.92, and recommends third-trimester ultrasound reassessment and growth evaluation when isolated.
Derived proportionality ratio references
Ulusoy CO, Kurt A, Yıldız AG, et al. Machine Learning-Based Prediction of Shoulder Dystocia in Pregnancies Without Suspected Macrosomia Using Fetal Biometric Ratios. J Clin Med. 2025;14:5240. This paper supports display of fetal biometric ratios as contextual shoulder-dystocia risk features, especially BPD/AC and AC/FL, while emphasizing that prediction remains imperfect. It also reports EFW/AC and EFW/FL as significant sonographic ratio predictors, but these should remain supportive context rather than deterministic delivery recommendations.
Gerber et al. reported that an AC/HC ratio ≥1.05 had limited prediction performance for shoulder dystocia; this calculator therefore treats an equivalent HC/AC ≤0.952 as a contextual AC-dominant flag rather than a deterministic diagnosis.
Ramus RM, Martin LB, Twickler DM. Ultrasonographic prediction of fetal outcome in suspected skeletal dysplasias with use of the femur length/abdominal circumference ratio. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 1998;179:1348-1352. This is the basis for the marked FL/AC <0.16 skeletal-disproportion flag in the appropriate clinical setting.
AC − HC difference: AC exceeding HC by ≥50 mm is treated as an AC-dominant shoulder-dystocia context flag. The tool displays this as a cautionary prompt only because positive predictive value is limited and management must consider diabetes, EFW, prior shoulder dystocia, pelvic/labor factors, and local practice.
Implementation notes
Percentile and z-score: where a paper provides a clean
mean/SD or LMS structure, the calculator can use direct z-score
calculation; where a paper is better suited as a normative chart or
organ-specific contextual anchor, the calculator uses interpolation-supported contextual interpretation rather than forcing an unsupported regression.