Objective: determine the optimal checklist of diagnostic procedures, whose application will make it possible to effectively identify and differentiate malformations of the biliary system of the fetus accompanied by the absence of ultrasound imaging of the gallbladder. Material . The fetuses in single-fetal pregnancy in the period of gestation of 16-37 weeks were examined. Results. The study has determined the optimal checklist of the diagnostic procedures, including dynamic sonography, biochemical amniotic fluid test, magnetic resonance imaging, which should be carried out in the absence of ultrasound imaging of the gallbladder during the screening ultrasound examination of pregnant women aimed at the identification of the congenital malformations of the fetus. The cases and conditions of the biochemical amniotic fluid testing have been identified. The standards of the percentile values of the total alkaline phosphatase and gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase concentrations in amniotic fluid have been developed. Conclusion. If the gall bladder of the fetus cannot be visualized by ultrasound, isolated agenesis of the gall bladder, atresia of the biliary tract, cystic fibrosis, aneuploidy, multiple congenital malformations should be suspected. In view of the extremely unfavorable prognosis in case of biliary atresia, the verification ultrasound examination should be repeated dynamically several times over the next week, and if the gallbladder is not detected, then for the differential diagnosis it is necessary to use additional methods such as MRI and biochemical amniotic fluid test in order to determine changes in their concentration of digestive enzymes in comparison with the normative values determined by the authors.
Diagnostic Tactics in the Absence of Ultrasound Images of the Gallbladder