The risk of intrauterine fetal death in the small-for-gestational-age fetus

Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2012 Oct;207(4):318.e1-6. doi: 10.1016/j.ajog.2012.06.039.

Abstract

Objective: We sought to evaluate the risk of intrauterine fetal death (IUFD) in small-for-gestational-age (SGA) fetuses.

Study design: We analyzed a retrospective cohort of all births in the United States in 2005, as recorded in a national database. We calculated the risk of IUFD within 3 sets of SGA threshold categories as well as within non-SGA pregnancies using the number of at-risk fetuses as the denominator.

Results: The risk of IUFD increased with gestational age and was inversely proportional to percentile of birthweight for gestational age. The risk for IUFD in those <3rd percentile was as high as 58.0 IUFDs per 10,000 at-risk fetuses, 43.9 for <5th percentile, and 26.3 for <10th percentile compared to 5.1 for non-SGA gestations.

Conclusion: There is an increase in the risk of IUFD in SGA fetuses compared to non-SGA fetuses at all gestational ages with the greatest risk demonstrated in the lowest percentile cohort evaluated.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Cohort Studies
  • Databases, Factual
  • Female
  • Fetal Death / etiology*
  • Fetal Growth Retardation / physiopathology*
  • Fetal Weight / physiology*
  • Gestational Age
  • Humans
  • Maternal Age
  • Pregnancy
  • Retrospective Studies
  • Risk
  • Stillbirth