Ethnicity and other factors that may affect the prevalence of echogenic intracardiac foci in the fetus.

Purpose: To study ethnicity and other possible factors that may affect the incidence of echogenic intracardiac foci (EIF) when detected via sonographic examination.

Materials And Methods: Patients were referred to our institution for sonographic evaluation from a wide range of practice formats, including both private obstetric practices as well as community outpatient clinics. The study protocol included presence or absence of EIF, maternal age, ethnicity, gestational age during the examination, optimal versus suboptimal scans, presence of other fetal malformations and sonographic markers, and presence of chromosomal anomalies.

Ethnic variation of fetal nasal bone length between 11-14 weeks' gestation.

Objective: We sought to compare the fetal nasal bone length (FNBL) between different ethnic groups at 11-14 weeks' gestation.

Methods: FNBL and the FNBL/CRL ratio were measured in patients undergoing first trimester ultrasound for nuchal translucency (NT) and the ethnicity of the patient was recorded under four categories: non-Hispanic White, non-Hispanic black, Hispanic, and Chinese.

Results: Two hundred and one patients were included in the study.