Skip Navigation

This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF ) Freely available
Right arrow Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (3)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Tanaka, Y.
Right arrow Articles by Hata, T.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Tanaka, Y.
Right arrow Articles by Hata, T.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Human Reproduction, Vol. 15, No. 6, 1400-1402, June 2000
© 2000 European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology

Is there a human fetal gallbladder contractility during pregnancy?

Yasuko Tanaka1, Daisaku Senoh and Toshiyuki Hata

Department of Perinatology, Kagawa Medical University, Miki, Kagawa, Japan.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether human fetal gallbladder contractility exists in the second half of pregnancy. Ultrasound examinations were performed on 54 normal pregnant women from 20 to 40 weeks of gestation. Fetal gallbladder volume was monitored every 30 min from 08:00 to 18:00 h in each patient. Maximum gallbladder volume was related linearly with gestational age between 20 and 32–35 weeks of gestation, after which a plateau was observed. Minimum gallbladder volume was unchanged throughout gestation. Functional capacity (maximum volume – minimum volume) of the fetal gallbladder increased linearly with advancing gestation until 32–35 weeks gestation, and thereafter was constant. Contractility rate [(maximum volume – minimum volume/maximum volume)x100] increased curvilinearly with advancing gestation (R2 = 30.7%, P < 0.0001). The daily change in fetal gallbladder volume showed a typical sinusoidal pattern, and the contractility cycle of gallbladder volume was unchanged during pregnancy (3.1 ± 0.6 h). These results suggest that there is an apparent gallbladder contractility in human fetuses in utero, and that maternal meals seem not to affect the volume of the fetal gallbladder. Further study is needed to clarify the physiological role of fetal gallbladder contractility during pregnancy.

Key words: contractility/fetus/gallbladder/gastro-intestinal/physiology/ultrasound

1 To whom correspondence should be addressed at: Department of Perinatology, Kagawa Medical University, 1750-1 Ikenobe, Miki, Kagawa 761-0793, Japan. E-mail: yasko{at}kms.ac.jp


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Journal of Diagnostic Medical SonographyHome page
M. Lariviere, K. Having, and S. Bullock
Fetal Cholelithiasis
Journal of Diagnostic Medical Sonography, November 1, 2006; 22(6): 403 - 406.
[Abstract] [PDF]

Home page
 Journal of Diagnostic Medical SonographyHome page
K. Having, L. Flamm, and D. McAuliffe
The Fetal Gallbladder: A Study of Sonographic Visualization Rate and Dimensions in the Second and Third Trimesters
Journal of Diagnostic Medical Sonography, November 1, 2002; 18(6): 387 - 393.
[Abstract] [PDF]


Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.