Gestational Diabetes Mellitus Affects Fetal Frontal Lobe Development

To determine the effect of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) on fetal frontal lobe development, researchers conducted a case-control study of prospectively collected data from 40 pregnant women with GDM. The results were published in the Journal of Clinical Ultrasound.

A variety of factors were analyzed, including maternal age, maternal body mass index (BMI), gestational week, biparietal diameter, head circumference (HC), abdominal circumference (AC), femur length, estimated fetal weight (EFW), frontal antero-posterior diameter (FAPD), occipito-frontal diameter (OFD), FAPD/OFD ratio, and FAPD/HC ratio. Data from pregnant women with GDM were compared with data from a group of low-risk controls (n=56).

Patients in the GDM group had a higher mean maternal age compared with the control group (P=.002). Additionally, maternal BMI significantly increased in the GDM group compared with the control group (P=0.01), and AC was notably elevated in the GDM group (P=.04).

EFW demonstrated a significant increase in the GDM group compared with the control group (P=.04), and the FAPD/OFD ratio was found to be greater in the GDM group (P=.001).

Among patients with GDM, no statistically significant differences were observed in ultrasound measurements between a subgroup analysis of patients receiving insulin treatment and those not undergoing treatment.

Based on the results of the correlation analysis, researchers established a moderate, positive, and statistically significant correlation between FAPD/OFD and GDM. In terms of perinatal outcomes, the rate of admission to the neonatal intensive care unit was substantially higher in the GDM group.