Evaluation of the circulatory system in children from the Lodz population born with features of intrauterine growth retardation

Introduction: Intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR) in fetus is one of the main reasons of born newborns small for the gestational age. Barker’s hypothesis presented in the 1990s suggests that people born with IUGR will significantly more often suffer from diseases of cardiovascular system. Taking into consideration the hypothesis that some cardiologic disturbances may occur in this group of children already in the early developmental period, we have attempted to evaluate the circulatory system with the use of diagnostic methods available nowadays. Material and methods: There search included 62 newborns with IUGR and 30 healthy newborns from Lodz population. Evaluation of the circulatory system consisted of: physical examination, ECG and echocardiography (heart anatomy, diameters of heart cavities, flowsthroughvalves and large vessels, left ventriclecontractility indices-EF,SF). Studies were carried out four times in the same group (at months: 1, 3, 6 and 9). Results: There was similar frequency rate of CHD between groups (4.8% vs 5%). The analysis of the ECG did not show significant irregularities. In the echocardiography more frequent TI in the children with IUGR can be noted as compared to the control group (82.2% vs 55% in the neonatal period). The same tendency can be observed for the frequency of PI (29% vs 20% in the neonatal period). Analysis of the LVDD, RVDD, EF and SF of the leftventricledid not reveal any differences between both the examined groups. Conclusions: The circulatory system in children with IUGR evaluated in the 1st year of life did not show significant changes as compared to the control group. It seems necessary to continue monitoring this group of patients and to search for other methods useful in cardiologic evaluation. (Clin. Exp. Med. Lett. 2006; 47(4):253-257)

Keywords: intrauterine growth retardation, children, Echocardiography