title: Maternal urinary bladder filling for middle and late trimester ultrasound. Is it really necessary?
abstract: A retrospective study was conducted to determine if there was a correlation between maternal urinary bladder filling and the ability to obtain fetal measurements. The ultrasonographic examinations of 400 randomly selected second and third trimester patients were evaluated. The patients examined either had a full bladder or an empty bladder. Although all patients were considered to have adequate examinations, 91.5% of those with a full bladder and 93% of those with an empty bladder had complete (four parameter) biometric evaluations. No statistical correlation was found between maternal bladder size and the ability to obtain fetal measurements.
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Medical College of Ohio, Toledo 43614.
authors.forename: W H
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Persutte
authors.forename: R R
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Lenke
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D005323:Fetal Monitoring; D006801:Humans; D011247:Pregnancy / Q000502:physiology*; D011262:Pregnancy Trimester, Second; D011263:Pregnancy Trimester, Third; D011897:Random Allocation; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014463:Ultrasonography; D001743:Urinary Bladder / Q000502:physiology*