Normal Length of the Human Fetal Gastrointestinal Tract

Little information is available on the normal length of the gastrointestinal tract in fetuses or on factors that may affect its growth. To determine normal growth patterns of the fetal intestine, 58 fetuses received in the Central Laboratory for Human Embryology between January 1, 1987, and July 1, 1988, in which no abnormalities were noted on autopsy, were studied. The gastrointestinal tract was removed from the fetus en bloc from the esophagogastric junction to the pelvic floor and dissected. Measurements of stomach, small and large intestines, and appendix length were made and correlated with gestational age as determined by footlength. Overall growth of the gastrointestinal tract as well as that of each component was linear with respect to gestational age. In addition, five fetuses with omphalocele, 16 with cardiac malformations, and 20 with chromosomal abnormalities were studied. The total lengths of the gastrointestinal tracts in the first group were below the normal range in four of five fetuses. Those with cardiac defects had intestinal lengths below the mean, but the measurements were abnormal in only three. In both groups those fetuses with chromosomal abnormalities appeared to have shorter intestinal tracts than those with normal or unknown karyotypes. The gastrointestinal tracts of aneuploid fetuses fell within the normal range until approximately 20 weeks gestation, after which growth decreased. This growth failure may reflect the growth retardation seen in fetuses with chromosomal abnormalities.