SFEBES2015 Poster Presentations Obesity, diabetes, metabolism and cardiovascular (108 abstracts)
1Seethapathy Clinic and Hospital, Chennai, UK; 2Mediscan Systems, Chennai, UK; 3University of Warwick, Coventry, UK.
Research question: What are the differences in foetal size in early pregnancy between GDM and control.
Methods: Serial foetal biometry was performed for GDM women and controls at 1820 weeks and 2832 weeks. At each visit, abdominal and head circumference (AC) & (HC), femur length (FL) and abdominal wall thickness (AWT) was measured along with collection of maternal data.
Results: women with GDM and 184 controls had complete anthropometric and maternal demographic data. Scans were performed at 20.5(±1.7) and 32.7(±1.4) weeks. At 20-weeks GDM group had higher AWT despite smaller measures of all other anthropometric variables. Mean (S.D.)mm GDM vs Control: AC: 148.9(29) vs 155.1(19.7), P=0.01, HC: 171.8(32.9) vs 179.7(21.9), P=0.006, FL: 32.9(7.1) vs 34.5(4.5), P=0.01, AWT: 2.6 (0.5) vs 2.3 (0.4) P<0.001. These differences persisted despite adjustment for age, BMI, height, gestational age, sex and FPG. Similar significant differences persisted at 2832 weeks. Gestational age and sex adjusted birth-weights (BW) of the two groups were similar (P=0.56).
Conclusion: Smaller size with increased abdominal fat is seen as early as 20 weeks in foetuses of GDM mothers, even prior to GDM diagnosis. Adiposity may potentially be a significant contributor to BW in GDM. AWT could serve as an early marker of GDM.