Estimating Gestational Age from Histology of Fetal Skin

The gestational age of a fetus can be estimated in the period from 10 to 30 weeks by examining the histology of abdominal skin.

Histologic Finding	Gestational Age
no appendages	10 weeks
crowding of nuclei in basal cells with budding	14 weeks
accumulation of mesenchymal cells below the developing hair bud	16 weeks
elongation of hair follicles with new bud formation	17 weeks
sebaceous glands present, and hair shaft visible	18 weeks
eccrine gland buds with oval nuclei	20 weeks
elongation of mostly solid eccrine ducts	23 weeks
early coiling of eccrine glands with lumen	25 weeks
coiling of eccrine glands seen as multiple transverse sections	30 weeks

where:

• The gestational age is given from the last menstrual period.

Performance:

• In 379 fetuses the authors had 97% agreement with the actual gestational age.

Limitations:

• Advanced autolysis may limit the histologic examination.

• Congenital skin diseases may affect the interpretation.

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