FETAL URINE PRODUCTION AT DIFFERENT GESTATIONAL AGES - CORRELATION TOVARIOUS COMPROMISED FETUSES IN-UTERO

To reveal which fetal life-threatening diseases significantly contribu te to impairment of inutero urine production and also to determine the gestational age at which time aberrant urine production becomes manif est, we observed 376 compromised fetuses (subject group) at 21-42 week s' gestation using ultrasonography. A total of 358 uncomplicated fetus es, aged 21-40 weeks, were separately chosen as a control group. Stati stical differences in the urine production rate between subject- and c ontrol-group fetuses were analysed using the Grubbs-Smirnoff test at c orresponding gestational ages. Significant decreases were evident in: bilateral renal agenesis (100%) at 21-23 weeks; bilateral infantile po lycystic kidney (100%) at 21-28 weeks; bilateral multicystic kidney di sease (100%) at 21-31 weeks; donor fetuses with twin transfusion syndr ome (TTS) (100%)at 21-28 weeks; post-term fetuses (100%) at 42 weeks; bilateral hydronephrosis (60%) at 21-38 weeks; non-immunologic hydrops fetalis (42%) at 21-35 weeks; intrauterine growth retardation (41%) a t 29-40 weeks; and upper gastrointestinal tract obstruction (36%) at 3 0-38 weeks. Significant increases were noted in: recipient fetuses wit h TTS (100%) at 21-28 weeks, and unilateral hydronephrosis (36%) at 27 -32 weeks. All indicate that urine production clearly delineates vario us fetal conditions in utero, in a closely disease-dependent relation to gestational age.