Objective: The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the relationship between intrauterine growth retardation, represented by fetal blood flow redistribution and infantile growth.
Methods: The blood flow velocity waveform of umbilical and middle cerebral arteries was recorded by Doppler ultrasonography in 77 growth-retarded fetuses. We recorded the pulsatility index (PI) of the umbilical artery and middle cerebral and calculated the PI ratio of the middle cerebral to umbilical artery (C/U ratio). We selected a cutoff value of 1.0 to distinguish between normal and abnormal C/U ratios. To evaluate the development of infants, height, body weight and head circumference were measured serially at 3, 6 and 12 months of age.
Results: Birth weight was significantly lower in newborns who had abnormal C/U ratios (2021+/-295 g vs. 2294+/-236 g). The number of cases admitted to NICU was higher and the duration of admission was longer in abnormal C/U ratio group (15/29 and 33.7+/-13.5 days) than normal C/U ratio group (7/48 and 26.6+/-5.6 days). Body weight was lower in infants of abnormal C/U ratio group at 3 months, but was not different at 6 and 12 months. The height was shorter in abnormal C/U ratio group at birth, there were no significant differences at 3, 6 and 12 months. The number of newborn infants with growth retardation was slightly higher in abnormal C/U ratio group, but the difference was not significant at 6 and 12 months. There was no relationship between C/U and growth variables recorded at birth and follow-up in infants.
Conclusion: Intrauterine growth-retardation, represented by abnormal fetal blood redistribution was associated with adverse perinatal outcome, but the influence was not found at the first year of life.