RADIAL AMNIOTIC FLUID INDEX AS A NEW AND ACCURATE METHOD FOR MEASURMENT OF AMNIOTIC FLUID VOLUME

Amniotic fluid volume (afv) is one of the important parameters in the assessment of fetalwell-being. the ability of ultrasound measurements to represent the actual afv is unproven. this studywas undertaken to compare correlation of conventional amniotic fluid index (afi) and radial amnioticfluid index (rafi) as a new method with actual fluid volume on phantom. as an experimental study, 10to 100 ml of water with 5 ml intervals was injected to a rubber bladder as a uterus phantom containing a15 week gestational age fetus. the vertical diameter was measured in largest fluid pouch at eachquadrant. four diameters were summed as conventional afi. the largest radial diameter perpendicularto uterus and fetus was measured at four quadrants and were summed as rafi. databases wereanalyzed based on correlation and regression methods. rafi and conventional afi predicted 91.6%and 65% of variations of fluid volume, respectively (p < 0.001). in conclusion, rafi is more accurateand reliable than conventional afi in the prediction of injected fluid volume.