Medical expert of the article

Oncologist, radiologist

New publications

Ultrasound of the newborn

Alexey Portnov, medical expert
Last reviewed: 20.11.2021

All iLive content is medically reviewed or fact checked to ensure as much factual accuracy as possible.

We have strict sourcing guidelines and only link to reputable media sites, academic research institutions and, whenever possible, medically peer reviewed studies. Note that the numbers in parentheses ([1], [2], etc.) are clickable links to these studies.

If you feel that any of our content is inaccurate, out-of-date, or otherwise questionable, please select it and press Ctrl + Enter.

For carrying out ultrasound examinations (ultrasound) of newborns, a certain skill is required.

Indications for ultrasound of a newborn

Suspicion for the presence of anomalies:

Organs of the abdominal cavity.
Heads.
Hip joints.
Suspicion of the pyloric stenosis.

Abdominal studies of newborns

Indications:

Education in the abdominal cavity.
Fever of unknown origin.
Hemolytic disease of newborns.
Infectious diseases, such as toxoplasmosis or listeriosis.

Liver

In order to fully visualize the entire liver, the hepatic and portal veins, multiple sections must be made.

Gallbladder (jaundice)

According to the echography it is not always possible to differentiate biliary atresia and hepatitis of newborns. Other causes of obstructive jaundice, such as choledocha cysts, gallstones, hyperechoic thick bile, can also be detected by ultrasound. A normal gallbladder is 2-4 cm long. The gallbladder is absent or sharply reduced with extrahepatic biliary atresia, but can have normal dimensions.

Blood vessels

It is important to be able to visualize the main blood vessels of the fetus and their main branches.

Kidneys

In the study to exclude diseases of the urinary system, it must be remembered that until about 6 months of age, the kidneys differ significantly in acoustic characteristics from the kidneys of adults.

Cortico-medullar differentiation is more pronounced in children.
Pyramids of the kidney are relatively more hypoechoic and can simulate cysts.
The bark of the parenchyma is less echogenic than the parenchyma of the liver.

As the child grows, the cortico-medullar differentiation decreases.

Translation Disclaimer: For the convenience of users of the iLive portal this article has been translated into the current language, but has not yet been verified by a native speaker who has the necessary qualifications for this. In this regard, we warn you that the translation of this article may be incorrect, may contain lexical, syntactic and grammatical errors.