The Relationship Between the Foetal Lung and Body at Different Gestational Age of Developing Human Foetuses

Abstract

Fetal lung is one of the organs of interest for researchers since a long time. Though, detailed morphometric studies about adult lung weight are there in the literature but weight of lungs at different stages in the foetal period is far less available. Hence, the present study attempted to find out the relationship between the foetal lungs in relation with its development in different gestational weeks. The study was carried out on 40 human fetuses of known gestational age in the Department of Anatomy, Manipal College of Medical Sciences, Pokhara, Nepal. Ethical approval was granted by the Institutional Review Committee (IRC), MCOMS, Pokhara. The weight of the fetuses and fetal lung was measured in grams on digital weighing machine. The mean values of all parameters by gestational age was calculated and analyzed. The data was represented graphically by using appropriate statistical analysis. In the present study the body weight of fetuses showed gradual increase from 10 th week to 38 th weeks of gestation. The weight of right lung was seen more than the weight of left lung throughout the gestational weeks. Evaluating body and organ weights and measurements against known standards is an important part of perinatal pathology and also provides new insights for understanding and developing knowledge in both normal and pathological conditions.