Growth of the fetal stomach in normal pregnancies

Fetal stomach dimensions were measured sonographically in 152 fetuses with gestational ages ranging from nine to 40 weeks. Nomograms of the mean +/- 2 standard deviations (SD) for the longitudinal, anteroposterior, and transverse diameters of the fetal stomach were generated throughout pregnancy. A linear growth function was observed across gestational age, and a high degree of correlation existed between gestational age and the transverse (r = 0.809, P less than .0001), anteroposterior (r = 0.798, P less than .0001), and longitudinal (r = 0.749, P less than .0001) diameters. These data provide a method by which variations from the norm can be assessed, and offer potential prenatal diagnosis of a variety of gastrointestinal lesions.