23rd World Congress on Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology. Short oral .... AC and FL along with estimated fetal weight were obtained and growth curves were ... Sydney Medical School Nepean, The University of Sydney. Objectives: ...
23rd World Congress on Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology fetal immune system and the prevalence of postnatal autoimmune disease. Size development of fetal thymus and adrenal glands has been implicated with fetal stress response and prematurity. Our aim was to assess intra-observer variability, reproducibility and operator learning curve for thymus and adrenal gland size measurements. Methods: Within the PRINCE study, thymus and adrenal gland size were measured at gestational age (GA) 24, 28 and 36 weeks. For the fetal thymus, transverse diameter and perimeter were measured. For the adrenal gland, length, width and depth of both the complete organ and the medulla were measured in a 3D volume. Each individual parameter was measured in triplicate volumes by an experienced operator. For learning curve, the first 10 measurements were compared with the second and the last 10. Results: We observed a significant learning curve for both organs leading to successful and reproducible measurements of the thymus in more than 95% of subjects in the last 10 subjects. Thymus transverse diameter was more reproducible (standard deviation of about 2 mm) and less variable than perimeter independent of GA. The adrenal gland length and width and the medulla could be successfully measured in more than 90% independent of GA in the last 10 subjects. However adrenal gland depth measurement remained variable and GA dependent. Conclusions: To investigate for subtle changes in size, the fetal thymus should be measured by the transverse diameter and the adrenal gland by length and width or medulla/cortex ratio. Taking this and the learning curve into consideration, accurate measurements of thymus and adrenal gland are feasible in the setting of a large prospective trial.
OP08.10 Comprehensive ultrasound evaluation of short-term fetal effects of dexamethasone and betamethasone A. Henry1,3 , A. Shand1,2 , C. Crowther4 , A. Palmer3 , Y. A. Wang5 , A. W. Welsh1,2 1 School
of Women’s and Children’s Health, University of New South Wales, Randwick, NSW, Australia; 2 Department of Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Royal Hospital for Women, Randwick, NSW, Australia; 3 St George Hospital, Kogarah, NSW, Australia; 4 Australian Research Centre for Health of Women and Babies, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia; 5 National Perinatal Epidemiology and Statistics Unit, University of New South Wales, Randwick, NSW, Australia Objectives: To evaluate short term effects of betamethasone and dexamethasone on fetal cardiovascular status using multi-parameter Doppler ultrasound assessment. Methods: Two-centre substudy nested within blinded randomised trial of women receiving betamethasone or dexamethasone for fetal lung maturation
