title: Three-dimensional sonographic volume measurement of the fetal stomach.
abstract: The objective of this study was to measure the fetal gastric volume using three-dimensional (3-D) ultrasound during pregnancy. Three-dimensional sonographic examinations were performed involving 35 pregnant women from 12 to 38 weeks of gestation. The fetal gastric volume was monitored every 5 min for a minimum of 40 min (40-60 min) in each woman. The rotational technique with Virtual Organ Computer-aided AnaLysis (VOCAL) was used to calculate the fetal gastric volume. Maximum and minimum gastric volumes were curvilinearly associated with the gestational age, respectively (R(2) = 0.611, p < 0.0001, and R(2) = 0.407, p < 0.0001, respectively). A curvilinear relationship was noted between the functional capacity (maximum volume - minimum volume) of the fetal stomach and gestational age (R(2) = 0.531, p < 0.0001). The maximum volume change [(maximum volume - minimum volume/maximum volume) × 100] did not change during pregnancy (mean and standard deviation, 64.1% ± 16.1%). However, gastric emptying cycles could not be determined in this study because of the short observation period and small number of subjects. Our findings suggest that the fetal gastric volume calculated by conventional two-dimensional ultrasound in previous investigations is approximately one-third of the maximum volume using 3-D ultrasound in the present study and that 3-D ultrasound is a superior means of evaluating the fetal gastric volume in utero. However, the data and their interpretation in the present study should be viewed with some degree of caution because of the small number of subjects. Further studies involving a larger sample size are needed to confirm these findings.
authors.affiliation: Department of Perinatology and Gynecology, Kagawa University School of Medicine, Miki, Kagawa, Japan. toshi28@med.kagawa-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Toshiyuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hata
authors.forename: Hirokazu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: Junko
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Noguchi
authors.forename: Eisuke
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Inubashiri
authors.forename: Toshihiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yanagihara
authors.forename: Shungo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kondoh
mesh_terms: D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D047109:Fetal Development; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional / Q000379:methods*; D011247:Pregnancy; D012044:Regression Analysis; D013270:Stomach / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D016216:Ultrasonography, Prenatal / Q000379:methods*