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Placental ratio and fetal growth pattern
Pornpimol Ruangvutilert1, Vitaya Titapant, Vassana Kerdphoo
1Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand.
Summary
Small for gestational age (SGA) pregnancies show an increased placental weight to birthweight ratio, not due to placental hypertrophy. This finding may impact future obstetric care and disease prediction.
Area of Science:
- Obstetrics and Gynecology
- Perinatal Medicine
- Fetal Growth Studies
Background:
- Placental hypertrophy is theorized as an adaptation to maintain function in pregnancies with complications like malnutrition.
- This adaptation may lead to increased placental weight to birthweight ratio in pregnancies with impaired fetal growth (small for gestational age infants).
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between placental weight to birthweight ratio and fetal growth patterns.
- To compare placental ratios in pregnancies with small for gestational age (SGA), appropriate for gestational age (AGA), and large for gestational age (LGA) infants.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective analysis of 1000 labor and delivery cases from January to June 2001.
- Comparison of placental ratios among SGA, AGA, and LGA infant groups.
Main Results:
- SGA pregnancies exhibited a significantly higher placental ratio compared to AGA pregnancies (p = 0.013).
- Actual placental hypertrophy was not observed in SGA cases; placental weight was lower than in AGA pregnancies of similar birthweight.
- No significant difference in placental ratio was found between LGA and AGA groups (p = 0.260).
- A positive correlation between placental weight and birthweight was noted in AGA and LGA groups, but not in SGA infants.
Conclusions:
- SGA pregnancies are associated with an increased placental ratio, likely not due to placental hypertrophy.
- The implications of this association for future obstetric care and prediction of adult diseases require further investigation.