Prenatal ultrasonic diagnosis of obstructive bowel disease: A retrospective analysis

Fetal obstructive bowel disease was diagnosed in 29 patients at 22–37 weeks (median 32 weeks) of gestation, seven (24 per cent) of whom also displayed other anomalies. Polyhydramnios was present in 20/29 cases (69 per cent). An abnormal karyotype existed in 7/29 cases (24 per cent), of which six were diagnosed prenatally (trisomy 21, n = 5; 69, XXX, n = 1) and one postnatally (trisomy 21). There was always an association with the ultrasonic ‘double bubble’ sign. Obstructive bowel disease was confirmed postnatally in 20/29 (69 per cent) cases, i.e., oesophageal atresia (n = 1), duodenal obstruction (n = 12), and small bowel obstruction (n = 7). Other anomalies existed in 6/29 (21 per cent) cases, i.e., multicystic kidney (n = 1) and multiple congenital anomalies (n = 5). The perinatal mortality rate was 35 per cent (7/20).