Learn about the flu shot, COVID-19 vaccine, and our masking policy »
New to MyHealth?
Manage Your Care From Anywhere.
Access your health information from any device with MyHealth. You can message your clinic, view lab results, schedule an appointment, and pay your bill.
ALREADY HAVE AN ACCESS CODE?
DON'T HAVE AN ACCESS CODE?
NEED MORE DETAILS?
MyHealth for Mobile
Get the iPhone MyHealth app »
Get the Android MyHealth app »
Abstract
The use of fetal MRI markedly improves characterization of abdominal congenital anomalies. Accurate prenatal diagnosis of the level and cause of congenital intestinal obstruction is desired for optimal parental counseling and perinatal care. Because accurate diagnosis would be aided by nomograms of colonic volume, this study was conducted to determine normal colonic volumes at different gestational ages.This retrospective study consisted of a review of 83 fetal MRI examinations performed on fetuses with no gastrointestinal abnormalities. MRI was performed with a 1.5-T system. Axial, sagittal, and coronal T1-weighted fast gradient-refocused echo images were acquired at TR/TE, 165/2.6; flip angle, 90 degrees; matrix size, 384 x 192; slice thickness, 5 mm; field of view, 38 cm(2). Two investigators determined the region of interest in the colon by outlining areas of high signal intensity of meconium slice by slice. They then calculated colonic luminal volume in the regions of interest. Colonic luminal volumes were reported relative to gestational age and abdominal circumference. Normative curves were generated, and interobserver and intraobserver analyses were performed.Seventeen of the 83 fetuses (20%) were excluded because of movement artifacts on the images. Normal colonic luminal volume increased exponentially with gestational age and abdominal circumference. The range of colonic luminal volumes at 20-37 weeks' gestational age was 1.1-65 mL. Variation of volume was greater at advanced gestational age. Interobserver and intraobserver correlation was good.This study yielded preliminary volumetric measurements of the normal fetal colon at 20-37 weeks of gestational age that suggest the fetal colon grows exponentially.
View details for DOI 10.2214/AJR.08.1504
View details for Web of Science ID 000264005700032
View details for PubMedID 19234275