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Ontogeny of gastric emptying patterns in the human fetus

Masakatsu Sase1, Ichiro Miwa, Masahiro Sumie

  • 1Division of Medicine for Maternal and Child Health, Department of Reproductive, Pediatric and Infection Science, Yamaguchi University School of Medicine, Yamaguchi, Japan. sase@po.cc.yamaguchi-u.ac.jp

The Journal of Maternal-Fetal & Neonatal Medicine : the Official Journal of the European Association of Perinatal Medicine, the Federation of Asia and Oceania Perinatal Societies, the International Society of Perinatal Obstetricians
|September 9, 2005
PubMed

Insights

Fetal gastric emptying begins early in gestation, by the second trimester, aiding amniotic fluid regulation. Its frequency increases with gestational age, suggesting a role in fetal development.

Area of Science:

  • Perinatology
  • Fetal Physiology
  • Gastroenterology

Background:

  • Fetal swallowing and gastric emptying are crucial for amniotic fluid (AF) homeostasis and gastrointestinal development.
  • Early fetal gastric emptying is hypothesized to prevent excessive AF accumulation.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To determine the human fetal ontogenic pattern of gastric emptying.
  • To investigate the onset and progression of fetal gastric emptying throughout gestation.

Main Methods:

  • Studied gastric emptying in 80 normal fetuses from 12 to 39 weeks gestation using real-time ultrasound.
  • Defined gastric emptying as a change in gastric area ratio (GAR) exceeding the 10th percentile of delta GAR at 36-39 weeks.

Main Results:

  • Fetal gastric emptying was observed as early as 12 5/7 weeks gestation.
  • The prevalence of fetal gastric emptying increased significantly with gestational age, from 12.1% (12-23 weeks) to 84.6% (36-39 weeks).

Conclusions:

  • Fetal gastric emptying is established by the second trimester and contributes to amniotic fluid regulation.
  • Increased gastric emptying frequency in late gestation may be linked to enhanced swallowing, altered fetal state, or gastrointestinal motility factors.
Abstract

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