Early Fetal Growth Delay

Abstract

It has been reported that the congenital anomalies frequently observed in offspring of diabetic women may be predicted by first-trimester ultrasound findings that reveal diminution in growth of the embryo/fetus. The aim of the current study was to examine the relationship between early growth delay and congenital anomalies in pregnancies complicated by diabetes.We conducted a retrospective study of 38 patients with insulin-requiring pregestational diabetes mellitus and 81 control pregnancies who had first-trimester ultrasound examinations. A cross-sectional survey of all patients revealed a congenital anomaly rate of 18.4% among the diabetic pregnancies compared to 4.9% among controls (P < 0.02). Early fetal growth delay was defined as a difference of six or more days between the menstrual gestational age and the sonographic gestational age (menstrual age minus ultrasound age).Early growth delay was exhibited in fifteen control pregnancies (18.5%) and eleven insulin-requiring pregestational diabetic pregn...