Maternal and foetal risk factors for predicting short-term perinatal outcome in IUGR foetuses born before 34 weeks

Objective. To identify maternal and foetal risk factors for predicting short-term perinatal outcome in IUGR foetuses born before 34 weeks.
Materials and Methods. This was a retrospective observational case-control monocentric study included singleton pregnancies with IUGR or spontaneous preterm labor (SPL), requiring delivery before 34 weeks at University of Naples Federico II between January 2021 -December 2023. Clinical population characteristics, pregnancy- related complications and perinatal outcomes were collected.
Results. A total of 160 singleton pregnancies were included: 103 with IUGR, 57 with SPL. Maternal age and gestational age were comparable between the two groups. The maternal BMI (29.02 ± 5.35 vs 27.08 ± 5.60; p = 0.001) was significantly higher in IUGR group. Nulliparity (63.11% vs 49.12%; p = 0.01), previous history of IUGR (52.94% vs 21.43%); p = 0.01), onset of pre-eclampsia (51.46 % vs 3.51%; p < 0.001), foetal doppler alterations (66.02% vs 5.26%; p < 0.001) and female sex (64.08% vs 29.82%; p < 0.001) were significantly higher in IUGR group. Neonatal weight (1175.5 ± 347 vs 1315.2 ± 397; p = 0.02), and umbilical cord pH (7.23 ± 0.105 vs 7.27 ± 0.087; p = 0.002) were significantly lower in case group, while umbilical cord lactate (3.6 ± 2.33 vs 2.72 ± 1.63; p = 0.01) was significantly higher in case group.
Conclusions. Maternal BMI, previous history of IUGR, preeclampsia, foetal doppler and foetal sex may be associated with worse short-term perinatal outcomes and can be used to develop a model for the prediction of adverse perinatal outcome in IUGR foetuses.