Fetal movements diagnosed by ultrasound in early pregnancy.

Abstract

The purpose of this work was to ascertain whether ultrasonic techniques based on fetal movements were suitable for examinations in early pregnancy. The series consisted of 124 patients who came to be examined because of bleeding on the 6th-20th gestational week. The rapid B-scan method detected the fetal movements from the 8th week onwards, and the results were 100% reliable from the 10th week onwards. The combined A-B-scan method detected the fetal movements from the 12th week. Techniques based on the detection of fetal heart function were used as control methods. According to our results, the methods based on the indication of fetal movements constitute a practical alternative for elucidating the problems of early pregnancy.