The Normal Fetal Pancreas.

Area of Science:

• Prenatal diagnosis
• Fetal medicine
• Medical imaging

Background:

• Assessing fetal organ development is crucial for prenatal care.
• The fetal pancreas plays a role in metabolic regulation, but its sonographic measurement is not well-established.
• Understanding normal fetal pancreatic growth aids in identifying developmental abnormalities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the feasibility of using sonography to measure fetal pancreas circumference.
• To establish normal reference ranges for fetal pancreas circumference throughout gestation.
• To correlate fetal pancreas measurements with gestational age and other fetal biometrics.

Main Methods:

• A prospective, cross-sectional study involving 297 singleton pregnancies from 19 to 36 weeks' gestation.
• Sonographic measurement of fetal pancreas circumference was performed.
• Feasibility assessed via visualization rates and intra/interobserver variability.

Main Results:

• Satisfactory visualization of the fetal pancreas was achieved in 61.6% of cases.
• High intraobserver (0.964) and interobserver (0.967) reliability was observed.
• Fetal pancreas circumference showed significant correlation with gestational age (r=0.744), abdominal circumference (r=0.829), and estimated fetal weight (r=0.812).

Conclusions:

• Sonography is a feasible method for measuring fetal pancreas circumference.
• Normal reference ranges for fetal pancreas circumference were established, aiding in assessing fetal development.
• This sonographic database can assist in diagnosing fetomaternal disorders affecting pancreatic development.