Fetal lung volume determination by three-dimensional ultrasonography.

Abstract

Pulmonary hypoplasia is common in compromised pregnancies. However, prenatal diagnosis by volume measurement has not become routine until now. The performance of three-dimensional ultrasonography in fetal lung volume determination was evaluated in this study. In a total of 78 singleton pregnancies 108 measurements were performed. Lung volume was calculated by subtraction of the fetal heart volume from the volume of the fetal thorax. Linear regression of transformed fetal lung volume growth gave best results (R2 = 0.77, p < 0.001), ranging from 2.8 ml at 14 weeks' gestation to 148 ml at term. Three-dimensional ultrasonography provides not only access to surface rendered images but it also enables more sophisticated volume measurements. In this study three-dimensional ultrasonography provided fast, easy access for volume estimation of the fetal lung. This technique can be used to reasonably predict fetal lung volume.