Correlation Between PAPP-A Levels Determined During the First Trimester and Birth Weight at Full-Term

Area of Science:

• Obstetrics and Gynecology
• Maternal-Fetal Medicine
• Biochemistry

Background:

• Foetal birth weight is a critical indicator of perinatal health.
• Accurate estimation of foetal weight during pregnancy is essential.
• Pregnancy-associated plasma protein-A (PAPP-A) is a biomarker used in first-trimester screening.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationship between first-trimester PAPP-A levels and full-term foetal birth weight.
• To assess PAPP-A's predictive value for foetal growth disorders, including low birth weight and macrosomia.

Main Methods:

• A single-centre study involving 2794 pregnant women.
• Analysis of PAPP-A levels measured during the first-trimester combined aneuploidy screening.
• Correlation analysis between multiples of median (MoM) PAPP-A and foetal birth weight, adjusting for gestational age and sex.

Main Results:

• A significant correlation was found between MoM PAPP-A and foetal birth weight.
• Extremely low first-trimester MoM PAPP-A (<0.3) was associated with an odds ratio of 2.74 for birth weight below the 10th percentile.
• Low MoM PAPP-A (0.3-0.44) showed an odds ratio of 1.52 for low birth weight.
• Elevated PAPP-A levels showed a non-significant trend towards predicting foetal macrosomia.

Conclusions:

• First-trimester PAPP-A levels are a significant predictor of foetal birth weight at term.
• PAPP-A measurements can aid in identifying pregnancies at risk for foetal growth disorders, particularly low birth weight.