Aim: The aim of this study was to prepare normograms for the fetal stomach, urinary bladder, and stomach to urinary bladder index in healthy fetuses. Material and methods: The study was conducted based on the data extracted from the database of our tertiary center in the years 2016–2019. The study group, comprising 867 fetuses, demonstrated normal biometry and normal heart structure, normal heart function, no extracardiac malformations, and no extracardiac anomalies. The stomach to urinary bladder index was analyzed in the study group. The examinations were performed with the use of the following ultrasound machines: Voluson E10, Philips and Voluson Expert, with convex transabdominal transducers. Linear regression analysis based on Microsoft Excel was used for statistical analysis. Results: The average size of the stomach in healthy fetuses between the 14–40th week of gestation was 18 mm (8–40 mm), the average urinary bladder measurement was 17 mm (15–42 mm), and the fetal stomach to urinary bladder index was constant: 1.26 (0.09–3.93). Conclusions: The normograms for the stomach, urinary bladder and the stomach to urinary bladder index prepared based on our study group can contribute to an improvement in the accuracy of examination and provide an unified organization of the description of fetuses. These normograms constitute an additional marker for the assessment of fetal condition. A clear disproportion in the size of the urinary bladder and stomach can be helpful in terms of paying more attention to fetuses with untypical features in screening centers.

The long-term monitoring of a fetus with genetic and non-genetic anomalies is still a challenge for prenatal medicine. Ultrasound screening must be based on some measurement ranges, which show the trend of development of fetal body parts in a given period of time. One of them is the fetal ear auricle. This study presents an analysis of the fetal ear auricle length in healthy fetuses to establish normal ranges of fetal ear auricle length. The study group included 132 healthy fetuses. The gestational age of healthy fetuses ranged from 17.0 to 39.5 weeks of gestation according to LMP. The range of fetal ear length measurement was 10.00–40.00 mm with an average value of 23.49 mm. In the group of fetuses in the second trimester of pregnancy, the range of fetal ear length measurement was 18.00–28.00 mm, whereas in the group of fetuses in the third trimester of pregnancy, the range was 16.00–40.00 mm. In order to check the usefulness of this parameter, an analysis of this marker in fetuses with extracardiac anomalies, including genetic and non-genetic disorders is shown. The fetal ear measurement can fall within the normal range even if there are some genetic or non-genetic disorders. Therefore, the fetal ear measurement does not provide any diagnostic value in terms of detecting any fetal genetic and non-genetic disorders, which is supported by the analysis of the data provided in this study. Our study has proved that measurement of the fetal ear auricle is possible; however, its clinical usefulness for perinatal management is currently very limited.

This research analyzes the measurement of fetal stomach and urinary bladder in healthy fetuses in the second and third trimester of gestation based on the database of the tertiary center from 2016 to 2019. The fetuses were selected for the study group in case they presented normal biometry and normal cardiac structure and function, no extracardiac malformation and no extracardiac anomalies and their gestational age was between 14 week  up to the 40 week of gestation. The normograms from the analysis are presented. The size of the fetal stomach and urinary bladder  (S/UB index) increases with gestational age on a 1:1 basis. Conclusions: The average size of the stomach in healthy fetuses between the 14 – 40 week of gestation was  18 mm (8 – 40 mm) , the average urinary bladder measurement was 17 mm (15 mm – 42 mm) and the fetal stomach to urinary bladder index (S/UB index) was constant:  1.26 (0.09 – 3.93). These are simple measurements that be implemented in daily practice for fetal ultrasound assessment

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