Diagnosis of Pregnancy and Embryonic Development by 2D Ultrasound in Kurdish Sheep

The objective of this study was to obtain the first time of pregnancy diagnosis and the images of fetal development in different times of pregnancy period using ultrasonography.

Two-dimensional ultrasound from day 25 to 120 of pregnancy was performed twice a week from days 25 to 65 and once a week from days 65 to 120 of pregnancy on ten Kurdish sheep. The ultrasonographic images were obtained Sonosite Titan (USA) 2D ultrasound machine.

On the 25th day, the pregnancy was diagnosed. On 39th day, clear pictures of pregnancy like amniotic membrane, and umbilicus were seen. On 75th day of gestation, internal organs of fetus like heart, kidney, liver, urinary bladder, and stomach were seen in the images. The scrotum in the male fetus was identified on the 89th day of gestation. Between the 110th and 120th days of gestation, complete details of internal organs were seen in ultrasonographic images.

The transrectal probe to detect pregnancy is better than transabdominal probe. The accuracy of 2D ultrasound was 100% for detecting pregnancy. The shape of fetus changes in the images from days 25 to 42 in each ultrasound scan, and on the 42nd day of pregnancy, the fetus is fully identified.