Endocrine Abstracts

Objective: Our goal was to investigate the effects of glucose levels from 75-g oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) on large for gestational age (LGA) newborns in women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM).

Material and methods: A prospective study was undertaken in Outpatient Department of Clinics for Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolic Disorders. One hundred and eighteen pregnant women were prospectively screened for GDM between 24 and 28 weeks of pregnancy.

Results: From 118 pregnancies, 78 (66.1%) women were with GDM, and 40 (33.9%) without GDM. Twenty-one (30.4%) of the neonates in the GDM group were LGA (adjusted weight at or above the 90th percentile). This proportion significantly differ from the proportion (5.5%) for the control group (P<0.01). There were significant correlations between LGA from GDM pregnancies with fasting, and 1-h OGTT plasma glucose levels (r=0.46 and 0.23 respectively, P<0.05). Gestation week of delivery and fasting glucose levels were independent predictors for LGA (β=0.58 and β=0.37 respectively, P<0.001). Areas under the receiver operator characteristic curve (AUC) were compared for the prediction of LGA. The AUC were: 0.782 (0.685–0.861) for fasting, 0.719 (0.607–0.815) for 1-h, and 0.51 (0.392–0.626) for 2-h OGTT plasma glucose levels.

Conclusion: Fasting and 1-h plasma glucose levels from OGTT may predict LGA babies in GDM pregnancies.

Key Words: gestational diabetes, oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT), large for gestational age.