Effect of gender on growth-restricted fetuses born preterm
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Tea Štimac
Abstract
Objective
To assess the effect of fetal gender in small-for-gestational age (SGA) neonates with birth weight less than the fifth percentile by gestational age.
Methods
We compared male and female SGA neonates for maternal and neonatal outcomes in the following gestational age subgroups: at <32 + 6, 33 + 0–36 + 6 and at ≥37 + 0 weeks of gestation.
Results
We examined 159, 154 and 2363 SGA neonates born at <32 + 6, 33 + 0 to 36 + 6 and ≥37 weeks of pregnancy, respectively, whose birth weight was below the fifth percentile for gestational age and who met our inclusion criteria. Overall, there were no significant differences between the mothers of males and females, except that there were more males at term and the incidence of nulliparas was greater among the mothers of males. In terms of outcomes, males had a similar incidence of respiratory distress syndrome (RDS), intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) and admissions to intensive care. Interestingly, low Apgar scores were more common in preterm females born at 33–37 weeks and vice versa in births over 37 weeks.
Conclusion
Our data do not support an advantage of either gender in preterm birth of infants who are most likely growth restricted.
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.
References
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©2019 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
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- Letters to the Editor
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Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Review
- Placenta previa and the risk of intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR): a systematic review and meta-analysis
- Research Articles – Obstetrics
- Total gestational weight gain and the risk of preeclampsia by pre-pregnancy body mass index categories: a population-based cohort study from 2013 to 2017
- Comparison of automated vs. manual measurement to estimate fetal weight in isolated polyhydramnios
- Strain and dyssynchrony in fetuses with congenital heart disease compared to normal controls using speckle tracking echocardiography (STE)
- Maternal abdominal subcutaneous fat thickness as a simple predictor for gestational diabetes mellitus
- Pregnancy outcome following bacteriuria in pregnancy and the significance of nitrites in urinalysis – a retrospective cohort study
- Nearly half of all severe fetal anomalies can be detected by first-trimester screening in experts’ hands
- Effect of maternal obesity on pregnancy outcomes in women delivering singleton babies: a historical cohort study
- Comparison of quantitative fluorescent polymerase chain reaction and karyotype analysis for prenatal screening of chromosomal aneuploidies in 270 amniotic fluid samples
- Effect of Sjögren’s syndrome on maternal and neonatal outcomes of pregnancy
- Intrapartum prediction of birth weight with a simplified algorithmic approach derived from maternal characteristics
- Efficacy of copy-number variation sequencing technology in prenatal diagnosis
- Socio-cultural and clinician determinants in the maternal decision-making process in the choice for trial of labor vs. elective repeated cesarean section: a questionnaire comparison between Italian settings
- Research Articles – Newborn
- Tidal volume monitoring during initial resuscitation of extremely prematurely born infants
- The level of extracellular superoxide dismutase in the first week of life in very and extremely low birth weight infants and the risk of developing bronchopulmonary dysplasia
- Effect of gender on growth-restricted fetuses born preterm
- Letters to the Editor
- Dermal bilirubin kinetics during phototherapy in term neonates
- Transcutaneous bilirubin to guide phototherapy: authors’ reply
