ESPE Abstracts

Background: Abnormal cardiac development leading to CHD can be associated with abnormal placental development with abnormal trophoblast invasion and remodeling resulting in abnormal transfer of nutrients and oxygen.

Objective and hypotheses: We measured the anthropometric parameters (length, weight, and head circumference) and the placental weight of 49 FT newborns (gestation period >36 weeks) infants with CHD ((cyanotic (n=8) and acyanotic (n=41)) diagnosed clinically and by echocardiography and compared these data with those for randomly selected normal FT newborns (n=104).

Results: Newborn infants with CHD were significantly shorter and had lower birth weight and smaller head size compared to normal newborns (Table). Their placental weights were significantly decreased compared to those for normal newborns. However, there was no statistically significant difference in the anthropometric parameters of infants with cyanotic vs acyanotic heart disease.

Conclusion: The intrauterine growth restriction in newborn infants with CHD may represent an adaptive mechanism to cope with the compromised perfusion caused by the congenital cardiac anomaly. Restricted uterine growth can pose a risk for postnatal development. In this study CHD was associated with significant affection of birth weight, length, and head circumference and lower placental weight compared to normal newborns.