Materials and Methods
Fourteen fetuses without apparent abnormalities were selected as the
control group. Thirteen fetuses diagnosed with isolated hyperechoic
bowel, but without serious malformations and chromosome abnormalities
were selected as the EB group from December 2018 to September 2019. At
the same time, seven fetuses diagnosed with hyperechoic bowel and other
abnormalities were selected as the C-EB group. Group C-EB Included one
case with an isolated lung, one case with a persistent left superior
vena cava and coronary sinus dilation, one case with a right subclavian
artery vagal with renal pelvis separate, one case with a neck
hemangioma, one case of a premature infant, one case with left
hydronephrosis, and one case with right subventricular cyst.
The inclusion criteria for the control group were as follows: 1)
singleton full-term newborn delivered via caesarean section; 2) fetal
prenatal ultrasound showed no strong echoes of the intestinal tract, no
other abnormalities, and the gestational age by ultrasound was
consistent with the actual gestational age; 3) all prenatal data
available; and 4) normal maternal menstrual pattern, good maternal
physical health, no antibiotics used in the first 3 months of pregnancy,
no maternal smoking, no maternal history of diabetes or heart disease,
no abnormalities on maternal biochemical and Torch testing.
The inclusion criteria for the EB group were as follows: 1) according to
the Slotnick and Abuhamad ultrasonographic grading system, all cases in
this group were > grade 2 without any other
abnormalities; and 2) the inclusion criteria were otherwise the same as
the control group.
The inclusion criteria for the C-EB group were as follows:according to
the Slotnick and Abuhamad ultrasonographic grading system, the patients
in this group were > grade 2 with other
abnormalities; and 2) the inclusion criteria were otherwise the same as
the control group.
The exclusion criteria were as follows: 1) the mother had ingested a
probiotic preparation within 1 month before delivery; 2) the newborn was
fed milk before the fecal collection; and 3) the mother participated in
another clinical trial at the same time.
The clinical data from the parturient were collected as follows:
parturient age; gestational age; and mode of delivery. The clinical data
from the infants were collected as follows: height; weight; gender; and
Apgar scores at 1, 5, and 10 min.
AGE Voluson E8 and E10 Doppler ultrasound machines(Voluson E8 and
E10,GE,Boston, Massachusetts,USA) were used to evaluate fetal growth,
the amniotic fluid volume, placenta, and umbilical cord. Then, we
evaluated the echo intensity of fetal intestines and iliac crest.
Hyperechogenic bowel was diagnosed by two senior physicians at the same
time. The echo intensity of the fetal intestines was the same as or
stronger than that iliac bone on the same sonogram (Figure 1).