The relative contribution of prematurity and fetal growth retardation to low birth weight in developing and developed societies

1982 ◽  
Vol 143 (7) ◽  
pp. 793-798 ◽  
Author(s):  
José Villar ◽  
JoséM. Belizán
Author(s):  
A.M. Hromova ◽  
V.A. Berezhna ◽  
T.Yu. Liakhovska ◽  
O.M. Ketova ◽  
V.M. Shafarchuk

Fetal growth retardation is a severe obstetric pathology that is accompanied by significant reproductive losses and the cost of treating newborns. The aim of the study is to investigate the clinical difference between the course of pregnancy, childbirth, and morphofunctional state of the placenta in women who gave birth to children with low birth weight before gestational age and normal anthropometric parameters. Materials and methods. The study included 37 women; the individuals of the main group gave birth to a child with low birth weight before gestational age (n = 25), the comparison group consisted of women who had uneventful pregnancy and children born with normal anthropometric parameters (n = 12) . Results and discussion. Pregnancy and childbirth in the main group were registered mostly within the age range of 30 and 39, burdened with bad habits, accompanied by somatic and obstetric pathology. The predominant mode of preterm delivery in most of the main group was cesarean section caused by fetal distress in contrast to women in the comparison group. Analysis of the morphofunctional state of the placenta from the women in the main groups revealed both general structural-adaptive and structural-morphological changes that indicated compensatory hyperplasia of placental tissue in women with foetal intrauterine growth retardation that is characteristic of the compensated stage of chronic placental insufficiency. Conclusion. The multicomponent impact of various factors may contribute to an increased risk of fetal growth retardation and its progression, so timely correction of risk factors will help to improve the management of pregnancy and perinatal outcomes.


PEDIATRICS ◽  
1978 ◽  
Vol 62 (4) ◽  
pp. 446-453
Author(s):  
Alistair G.S. Philip

Sixty-three term newborn infants with fetal growth retardation were evaluated within three days of birth. They were classified by length and head circumference. In group 1, both length and head circumference were less than the tenth percentile; in group 2, either length or head circumference was less than the tenth percentile; and in group 3, both length and head circumference were greater than the tenth percentile. Ponderal index (weight/length ratio), anterior fontanel size, and amount of epiphyseal ossification were also determined. Significantly lower birth weights and decreased ossification were found when groups 1 or 2 were compared separately with group 3. These differences were most marked when the weight/length ratio was less than 2.25. When the ponderal index was less than 2.0, epiphyseal ossification was usually absent (suggesting a chronic process). Epiphyseal ossification was positively correlated with birth weight and length but was unrelated to anterior fontanel size. Ossification was more often absent in males than in females. There was a negative (inverse) correlation between birth weight and anterior fontanel size. Follow-up of 32 of these infants at age 1 year showed marked individual variations, but there were significant differences in incremental linear growth between groups 1 and 3, a finding which supports results of animal studies showing that catch-up growth may be related to skeletal immaturity. Physical measurements at birth in the individual baby with fetal growth retardation do not reliably predict subsequent growth.


PEDIATRICS ◽  
1972 ◽  
Vol 50 (4) ◽  
pp. 547-558
Author(s):  
J. Urrusti ◽  
P. Yoshida ◽  
L. Velasco ◽  
S. Frenk ◽  
A. Rosado ◽  
...  

Intrauterine growth was assessed in a series of 128 cases. Thirty-six infants were small for gestational age, and showed the usual signs of intrauterine growth retardation (IUM). The head circumference of these infants was small, with reference to normal term babies (FT) and comparable to premature infants, appropriately sized for a gestational age (ACA) five weeks less than that of the IUM's. There were 12 neonatal deaths, three among IUM infants within 24 hours and nine in the low birth weight AGA group within 72 hours. The mothers of these three groups of infants were similar with respect to age, weight, height, nutritional patterns, and prior pregnancy histories.


1982 ◽  
Vol 52 (3) ◽  
pp. 695-699 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. G. Moore ◽  
S. S. Rounds ◽  
D. Jahnigen ◽  
R. F. Grover ◽  
J. T. Reeves

Infant birth weight is reported to decrease at high altitude as a reulst of fetal growth retardation (McCullough, Reeves, and Liljegren. Arch. Environ, Health. 32: 36--39, 1977) but not all babies born at high altitude are small. We hypothesized that maternal characteristics acting to lower arterial O2 content would contribute to smaller infant birth weight. To test this hypothesis, we measured arterial oxygenation serially during pregnancy and again postpartum in 44 residents of Leadville, CO (elevation 3,100 m). We identified three maternal characteristics--ventilation, hemoglobin concentration, and smoking habits--that were related to the birth weight of the offspring. Mothers of smaller babies (less than 2,900 g) compared to mothers of larger babies (greater than 3,500 g) were characterized by hypoventilation, no change or a decrease in ventilation and arterial O2 saturation from early to late gestation, and a falling hemoglobin concentration that combined to lower arterial O2 content in the 3rd trimester. Maternal smoking at 3,100 m was associated with a two to threefold greater reduction in infant birth weight (-546 g) than reported from sea level. Thus, maternal arterial oxygenation during pregnancy may be important for predicting fetal growth retardation and the process of adaptation to high altitude.


1995 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 639 ◽  
Author(s):  
BM Johnston

Epidemiological studies have linked low birth weight and increased placental weight with increased risk of hypertension in adult life. It has been proposed that the cardiovascular changes which lead to hypertension are initiated in utero by processes associated with intrauterine growth retardation. The alternative possibility, that hypertension may result from genetic influences which also determine fetal and placental size, has had less support because birth weight is not determined genetically in humans. However, in the spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR) essential hypertension is known to be transmitted genetically. Fetal and placental weights were, therefore, measured at Day 20 gestation in SHRs and compared with those in the normotensive Wistar Kyoto (WKY) control strain. Fetal weight (1.93 +/- 0.04 g) was significantly (P < 0.001) reduced in SHRs compared with WKY fetuses (2.23 +/- 0.01 g) but placental weight was heavier (P < 0.001) in SHRs (0.347 +/- 0.005 g) than in WKY rats (0.300 +/- 0.006 g) although litter size was not different. As expected, maternal blood pressure recorded under 1% halothane anaesthesia was higher (126 +/- 2.7 mm Hg) in SHR than WKY rats (100 +/- 2.1 mm Hg; 1 mm Hg = 133 Pa). In addition the concentration of maternal blood glucose in SHR was significantly (P < 0.001) higher (4.8 +/- 0.32 mM v. 3.7 +/- 0.11 mM) and the concentration of plasma insulin was significantly (P < 0.05) lower in SHRs (18.8 +/- 3.0 ng mL-1) than in WKY dams (29.4 +/- 3.1 ng mL-1). Thus, the data support human population studies which show an association between adult hypertension and a reduced fetal:placental weight ratio at birth. However, because hypertension in the SHR is genetically determined, these data suggest that fetal growth retardation and increased placental weight may also be determined genetically.


2008 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 10-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vera Maria Freitas da Silveira ◽  
Bernardo Lessa Horta

OBJETIVO: Analisar as evidências na literatura do efeito do peso ao nascer sobre a ocorrência de síndrome metabólica em adultos. MÉTODOS: Foram pesquisados nas bases PubMed and LILACS, no período de 1966 a maio de 2006, artigos publicados usando os seguintes descritores: "birth weight" , "birthweight" , "intra-uterine growth restriction (IUGR)", "fetal growth retardation", "metabolic syndrome", "syndrome X", "Reaven's X syndrome". Foram selecionados 224 estudos considerados elegíveis que relatavam estimativas de associação entre peso ao nascer e síndrome metabólica ou seus componentes. Desses, 11 apresentavam razões de odds e foram usados na meta-análise. RESULTADOS: Com exceção de dois estudos, os demais relataram associação inversa entre peso ao nascer e síndrome metabólica. Comparadas com pessoas de peso normal, a razão de odds do efeito combinado naquelas que nasceram com baixo peso foi de 2,53 (IC 95%: 1,57;4,08). O gráfico de funil sugere viés de publicação e o resultado permanece estatisticamente significativo mesmo em estudos com mais de 400 pessoas (efeito combinado 2,37; IC 95%: 1,15;4,90). CONCLUSÕES: Baixo peso ao nascer aumenta o risco de síndrome metabólica na idade adulta.


1989 ◽  
Vol 61 (02) ◽  
pp. 243-245 ◽  
Author(s):  
J G Thornton ◽  
B J Molloy ◽  
P S Vinall ◽  
P R Philips ◽  
R Hughes ◽  
...  

SummaryA panel of haemostatic tests was perfomed on 400 primiparous women at 28 weeks to test whether one or more could predict the development of pregnancy complications. Fifteen women subsequently developed pre-eclampsia with significant proteinuria and 13 delivered growth retarded infants. There were no significant differences between mothers in the pre-eclampsia group and 22 randomly selected controls. A stepwise logistic discriminant analysis of the data did not produce a significant model. In the growth retarded group only beta thromboglobulin levels were significantly lower than in the controls (p <0.05), although in the logistic discriminant analysis the inclusion of both beta thromboglobulin and fibrin degradation products led to a borderline significant improvement in fit of the model. We conclude that the haemostatic variables studied are not significantly changed at 28 weeks nor clinically useful predictors of either pre-eclampsia or fetal growth retardation.


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