High-frequency ultrasound imaging to assess fetal pancreas: a promising application

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to establish a comprehensive reference range of quantitative characteristics of the fetal pancreas using a high-frequency transducer, and assess the growth and development of the fetal pancreas.Methods: Pregnant women referred to a tertiary center were recruited to undergo a detailed fetal scan from 16 to 37 weeks. We evaluated the visualization rate of the fetal pancreas with high-frequency and low-frequency transducers and measured the head, neck, body, tail, circumference, area, and abdominal circumference(AC) of the fetal pancreas at different gestational ages(GA) with the high-frequency transducer. Regression analysis was used to analyze the relationship between biological parameters and GA and AC.Results: During the time periods of 16⁺¹∼21⁺⁶weeks and 22⁺¹∼27⁺⁶weeks, the visualization rate of high-frequency transducers was higher compared to low-frequency transducers (83.33% vs 45% and 95.65% vs 70%, respectively). However, in the third trimester of pregnancy, the performance of the two transducers was similar (70.37% vs 74.07% for 28⁺¹∼33⁺⁶weeks and 41.67% vs 53.85% for 34⁺¹∼37⁺⁶weeks). The head, neck, body, and tail as well as the circumference and area of the pancreas were significantly positively correlated with GA (R²＝0.87, 0.94, 0.92, 0.92,0.96, and 0.92) and AC (R²＝0.87, 0.93, 0.91, 0.93,0.96, and 0.92).Conclusions: The high-frequency transducer was utilized to establish the normal reference, which can be used to evaluate normal pancreatic development and may help in the accurate diagnosis of fetal pancreatic abnormalities.