Placental thickness: The average thickness is around 2-4cm, The placental thickness is measured from the mid portion of the placenta near cord insertion perpendicular to the wall of the uterus from the subplacental veins to the amniotic fluid excluding the endometrium. Anterior placentas are 0.7cm thinner than posterior or fundal placentas. It is said to be a thickened placenta if the anterior placental thickness is >3.3cm and the posterior placental thickness is >4cm. Thickened placenta is seen in torch infections, fetal hydrops and in gestational diabetes mellitus, congenital syphilis, intravillous thrombi, villus odema, congenital toxoplasmosis, maternal and fetal anaemia. An unusually thin placenta increases the risk for both fetal growth retardation, and for neonatal death, raising the possibility that very thin placenta are sometimes functionally insufficient.
Aim of the work: The aim of the present study was to correlate the placental thickness, measured at level of insertion of umbilical cord with fetal weight and use it to compare this correlation in normal and IUGR pregnancies to find whether any significant difference is present between these groups.