Routine ultrasonography in utero and school performance at aged 8 to 9 years

At the age of 8 or 9 years children of women who had taken part in two randomised controlled trials of routine ultrasonography during pregnancy were followed up. The school performance of 2011 children was assessed by their teachers on a scale of 1-7. A sub-group of 603 children underwent specific tests for dyslexia. There were no statistically significant differences between children screened with ultrasound and controls in the teacher reported school performance. Results from the dyslexia test sample showed no differences between screened children and controls in reading, spelling and intelligence scores, or in discrepancy scores between intelligence and reading of spelling.