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Updated: Aug 19, 2026
Fetal Echocardiography and Pulsed-wave Doppler Ultrasound in a Rabbit Model of Intrauterine Growth Restriction
Published on: June 29, 2013
A systematic review of the association between factor V Leiden or prothrombin gene variant and intrauterine growth
Heather E A Howley1, Mark Walker, Marc A Rodger
1University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
Objective:
The purpose of this study was to conduct a systematic review of the literature of studies that examined the association between factor V Leiden and/or prothrombin gene variant and intrauterine growth restriction.
Study Design:
This systematic review of studies assesses the association between factor V Leiden and/or prothrombin gene variant and intrauterine growth restriction.
Results:
Ten case-control studies fulfilled the selection criteria for inclusion in the meta-analysis. There was a significant association between factor V Leiden and intrauterine growth restriction (odds ratio, 2.7; 95% CI, 1.3-5.5) and prothrombin gene variant and intrauterine growth restriction (odds ratio, 2.5; 95% CI, 1.3-5.0). Five cohort studies were identified in the systematic review; 3 studies were prospective (2 full publications), and 2 studies were retrospective (1 full publication). Combining the 2 full publication prospective studies yields a summary relative risk of 0.99 (95% CI, 0.5-1.9).
Conclusion:
This meta-analysis of case-control studies suggests that the factor V Leiden and prothrombin gene variant both confer an increased risk of giving birth to an intrauterine growth restricted infant, although this may be driven by small, poor-quality studies that demonstrated extreme associations. Large well-conducted prospective cohort studies are required to determine definitively whether an association between thrombophilia and intrauterine growth restriction is present.
