Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Western Galilee Hospital, Nahariya, Israel.
Ultrasound Obstet Gynecol. 2010 Apr;35(4):395-7. doi: 10.1002/uog.7546.
Absence or congenital anomalies of the parotid glands are associated with significant long-term morbidity. To date there are no published data on ultrasonographic detection of these defects in early pregnancy. We set out to demonstrate and measure the fetal parotid and submandibular salivary glands at 14-16 weeks using transvaginal ultrasound imaging.
During a routine fetal anomaly detection scan in 30 consecutive patients, an attempt was made to examine the fetal parotid and submandibular glands. The fetal head was scanned in transverse sections just below the fetal ears, and the area of the parotid and submandibular glands was inspected. The examination time was not prolonged for the purpose of measuring the salivary glands. The fetal biparietal diameter and the femur length were also documented.
The median gestational age was 15.4 (range, 14.4-16.5) weeks. In all 30 patients examined, at least one pair of parotid and submandibular glands was clearly visualized and measured. In seven patients the parotid and submandibular glands were visualized on both sides. The median length of the parotid gland was 7.5 (range, 5.5-11.5) mm and that of the submandibular gland was 5.4 (range, 3.7-8.5) mm.
The fetal salivary glands can be demonstrated by transvaginal ultrasound imaging at 14-16 weeks of gestation. This is the first reported study presenting the normal values of salivary gland measurements, which may be important in detecting fetuses with congenital absence or other malformations of the glands.
腮腺缺失或先天畸形与显著的长期发病率相关。迄今为止，尚无关于这些缺陷在妊娠早期经阴道超声检测的报道数据。我们旨在通过经阴道超声成像技术，在 14-16 周妊娠时显示和测量胎儿腮腺和颌下腺。
在 30 例连续患者的常规胎儿畸形检测扫描中，尝试检查胎儿腮腺和颌下腺。在胎儿耳朵下方的横切面上扫描胎儿头部，并检查腮腺和颌下腺区域。为了测量唾液腺，并未延长检查时间。还记录了胎儿双顶间径和股骨长度。
中位孕龄为 15.4 周（范围，14.4-16.5 周）。在所有 30 例检查的患者中，至少有一对腮腺和颌下腺可清晰显示并测量。在 7 例患者中，两侧均可显示腮腺和颌下腺。腮腺的中位长度为 7.5 毫米（范围，5.5-11.5 毫米），颌下腺的中位长度为 5.4 毫米（范围，3.7-8.5 毫米）。
在 14-16 周妊娠时，经阴道超声成像可显示胎儿唾液腺。这是首例报道唾液腺测量正常数值的研究，这可能对检测先天性缺失或其他腺体畸形的胎儿具有重要意义。
