Placental thickness on ultrasound and neonatal birthweight
-
Odessa P. Hamidi
,
Avi Hameroff
Abstract
Objective
To investigate the relationship between maximal placental thickness during routine anatomy scan and birthweight at delivery.
Methods
This retrospective descriptive study analyzed 200 term, singleton deliveries in 2016 at Penn State Hershey Medical Center. We measured maximal placental thickness in the sagittal plane from the ultrasound images of the placenta obtained at the 18–21-week fetal anatomy screen. The relationship between placental thickness and neonatal birthweight was assessed using Pearson’s correlation coefficient (r) with 95% confidence interval (CI). Logistic regression was used to assess the association between placental thickness and secondary binary outcomes of neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) admission and poor Apgar scores. Two-sample t-tests, or exact Wilcoxon rank-sum test for non-normally distributed data, were used to assess for differences attributable to medical comorbidities (pre-gestational diabetes, gestational diabetes, chronic hypertension, gestational hypertension, preeclampsia and eclampsia).
Results
Placental thickness had a positive correlation with neonatal birthweight [r=0.18, 95% CI=(0.05, 0.32)]. The mean placental thickness measured 34.2±9.7 mm. The strength of the correlation remained similar when adjusting for gestational age (r=0.20) or excluding medical comorbidities (r=0.19). There was no association between placental thickness and NICU admission, Apgar scores <7 or medical comorbidities.
Conclusion
Our study demonstrated a positive correlation between sonographic placental thickness and birthweight. Future prospective studies are warranted in order to further investigate whether a clinically significant correlation exists while adjusting for more covariates.
Author contributions: All the authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this submitted manuscript and approved submission.
Research funding: None declared.
Employment or leadership: None declared.
Honorarium: None declared.
Competing interests: The funding organization(s) played no role in the study design; in the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; or in the decision to submit the report for publication.
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©2019 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
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- Editorial
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- Antenatal magnesium sulfate for fetal neuroprotection: a critical appraisal and systematic review of clinical practice guidelines
- Research Articles – Obstetrics
- Customised birthweight standard for a Slovenian population
- Clinical chorioamnionitis at term IX: in vivo evidence of intra-amniotic inflammasome activation
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- Metabolic characterization of amniotic fluids of fetuses with enlarged nuchal translucency
- Stillbirths in women with pre-gravid obesity
- Dependencies between maternal and fetal autonomic tone
- Placental thickness on ultrasound and neonatal birthweight
- Quantitative and qualitative assessment of maternal sexuality during pregnancy
- Impact of the new guidelines on the management of premature rupture of membranes for the prevention of late preterm birth: an 11-year retrospective study
- Diabetes and obesity during pregnancy are associated with oxidative stress genotoxicity in newborns
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- Research Article – Newborn
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Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Editorial
- Tinker, tailor, infection, inflammation
- Review
- Antenatal magnesium sulfate for fetal neuroprotection: a critical appraisal and systematic review of clinical practice guidelines
- Research Articles – Obstetrics
- Customised birthweight standard for a Slovenian population
- Clinical chorioamnionitis at term IX: in vivo evidence of intra-amniotic inflammasome activation
- A high concentration of fetal fibronectin in cervical secretions increases the risk of intra-amniotic infection and inflammation in patients with preterm labor and intact membranes
- Associations between second-trimester amniotic fluid levels of ADAMTS4, ADAMTS5, IL-6, and TNF-α and spontaneous preterm delivery in singleton pregnancies
- Metabolic characterization of amniotic fluids of fetuses with enlarged nuchal translucency
- Stillbirths in women with pre-gravid obesity
- Dependencies between maternal and fetal autonomic tone
- Placental thickness on ultrasound and neonatal birthweight
- Quantitative and qualitative assessment of maternal sexuality during pregnancy
- Impact of the new guidelines on the management of premature rupture of membranes for the prevention of late preterm birth: an 11-year retrospective study
- Diabetes and obesity during pregnancy are associated with oxidative stress genotoxicity in newborns
- Prenatal diagnosis, associated findings and postnatal outcome of fetuses with double outlet right ventricle (DORV) in a single center
- Research Article – Newborn
- Therapeutic hypothermia during neonatal transport at Regional Perinatal Centers: active vs. passive cooling
