3-DIMENSIONAL ULTRASOUND IMAGE OF THE FETAL STOMACH - CONGENITAL DUODENAL OBSTRUCTION IN-UTERO

To quantitatively characterize the stereographic stomach configuration in utero, 11 fetuses (subject-group) with congenital duodenal obstruc tion, diagnosed antenatally, between 29 and 37 weeks' gestation were s tudied, Also included were 879 uncomplicated fetuses between 20 and 40 weeks' gestation as a control-group. Applying the algorithm which we devised: ''Modeling a three-dimensional shape from a silhouette by det ecting symmetry'', we reconstructed the three-dimensional stomach conf iguration from a two-dimensional ultrasound image for each case. The s tatistical differences in two parameters, stomach volume and sphericit y, between subject- and control-group fetuses, were analyzed using the Grubbs-Smirnoff's test at corresponding gestational ages. From 29 to 37 weeks' gestation, the stomach volume in the subject-group fetuses w as found to increase greatly with advancing gestation, having signific antly higher values than the control-group fetuses, whereas the stomac h sphericity remained unchanged with no significant differences from t he control-group fetuses. These findings indicate that the fetal stoma ch with duodenal obstruction maintains almost the same three-dimension al portrayal in utero as that seen in uncomplicated fetuses, although the stomach becomes extremely enlarged.