山口 善行¹, 堀 栄一², 原 賢治², 下川 浩², 中野 仁雄²

Yoshiyuki YAMAGUCHI¹, Eiichi HORI², Kenji HARA², Hiroshi SHIMOKAWA², Hitoo NAKANO²

¹松山赤十字病院産婦人科, ²九州大学医学部婦人科学産科学教室

¹Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Matsuyama Red Cross Hospital, ²Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Faculty of Medicine Kyushu University

キーワード : Ultrasound, Fetus, Face, Prenatal diagnosis

　In order to evaluate the scanning method for observing the facial structures of the fetus by using a linear electronic scanner, the present study was carried out. Two hundred and two fetuses between 16 and 40 weeks of gestation were examined. When the scanning was done tangentially to the fetal face, we could detect fetal eye-balls in 192 cases (95.0%), nose in 188 (89.1%) by one examination. Detection rate of these structures were influenced by gestational age, the amount of amniotic fluid, the fetal position and the presence of the fetal small parts and/or umbilical cord in front of the face. At 16 weeks of gestation, the facial structures could be detected in almost all cases.
　In 202 cases, there were four cases with the facial abnormalities; including two cleft lips, one cleft lip and palate and one absence of right eye-ball. All cases with the facial abnormalities were diagnosed prenatally and were confirmed after birth. There were no false positive nor negative.
　These results indicate that our scanning method is useful for observing of the facial structures of the fetus.