Volume: 13 Issue: 2
Year: 2025, Page: 112-117, Doi: https://doi.org/10.47799/pimr.1302.25.41
Received: July 28, 2025 Accepted: July 29, 2025 Published: Aug. 11, 2025
Background: Reliable Indian data on foetal growth and lung maturation are limited. Objectives: To document body size and pulmonary morphogenesis in human foetuses from 16 to 38 weeks of fertilisation age. Methods: A descriptive, cross-sectional autopsy study was conducted from January 2022 to December 2023. Fifty aborted foetuses (29 females, 21 males) were examined. Inclusion required fertilisation age ≥ 16 weeks, no major anomalies and no maceration. Body weight and crown–rump length (CRL) were recorded with calibrated instruments; lungs were assessed for location, external morphology and hypoplasia. Foetuses were stratified into six two-week age groups (16–18 to 36–38 weeks). Results: Mean body weight rose from 275 ± 79.9 g at 16–18 weeks to 2 420 ± 112.5 g at 36–38 weeks, while mean CRL increased from 150 ± 13.6 mm to 335 ± 5.0 mm. Pulmonary hypoplasia was present in 100 % of foetuses up to 22 weeks, 50 % at 28–30 weeks, and 0 % beyond 36 weeks. Lung appearance progressed from small, pyramidal, pinkish organs with indistinct lobes in early gestation to well-lobated, grey‑pink lungs of near-adult morphology by term. No ectopic or displaced lungs were noted. Conclusion: Indian foetal growth shows a steady increase in body size with a modest slowdown after 32 weeks. Lung hypoplasia is mainly found in early second-trimester, resolving by 36 weeks as external features attain mature form. These findings provide useful baseline references for foetal age estimation and assessment of lung maturity in the Indian context.
Keywords: Foetal lung development, Crown–rump length, Morphogenesis, Fertilization age, Foetal anatomy, Pulmonary maturation
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©2025 (T L N Swamy) et al. This is an open-access journal, and articles are distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License CC-BY 4.0. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original authors and source are credited.
Shamama S, Tanveer KS, Shroff G, Mandhana V. A Descriptive Study of Morphogenesis of Human Foetal Lung in Aborted Foetus in a Tertiary Care Hospital of Maharashtra. Perspectives in Medical Research. 2025;13(2):112-117. DOI: 10.47799/pimr.1302.25.41