Radiology, Vol 197, 729-733, Copyright © 1995 by Radiological Society of North America
Small or absent fetal stomach: prognostic significance
KM McKenna, RB Goldstein and MD Stringer
Department of Radiology, Mills-Peninsula Hospitals, San Mateo, Calif, USA.
PURPOSE: To investigate the outcome of fetuses with a small or absent
stomach. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed sonograms in 87
fetuses with a small or absent stomach. Gestational age, amniotic fluid
volume, stomach size, morphologic defects, and karyotypes were correlated
with clinical follow-up or autopsy findings. RESULTS: Eight pregnancies
were excluded because of oligohydramnios due to ruptured membranes.
Seventy-nine fetuses with an absent (n = 27) or small (n = 52) stomach were
included in the study group. Gestational ages ranged from 18 to 39 weeks
(mean, 27 weeks). An abnormal outcome (structural abnormalities,
intrauterine fetal or postnatal death) occurred in 23 (85%) of 27 fetuses
with an absent stomach and 27 (52%) of 52 fetuses with a small stomach
(combined, 63%). Karyotype was abnormal in eight (38%) of 21 fetuses with
an absent stomach and two (4%) of 46 fetuses with a small stomach.
CONCLUSION: An absent or small fetal stomach after 18 weeks gestation is
associated with a guarded prognosis.
