Risk Factors for Short Stature in Children Born Small for Gestational Age at Full-Term

Lan Ling; Ting Chen; Xin-Hua Zhang; Min-Hong Pan; Hai-Hong Gong; Li-Na Zhang; Meng Zhao; Xiao-Qing Chen; Shu-Dong Cui; Chao Lu

doi:10.3389/fped.2022.833606

Risk Factors for Short Stature in Children Born Small for Gestational Age at Full-Term

Front Pediatr. 2022 Jun 22:10:833606. doi: 10.3389/fped.2022.833606. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pediatrics, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China.
² Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China.
³ Department of Children's Health Care, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China.
⁴ Department of Pathology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China.

Abstract

Objective: This study aims to identify the risk factors associated with short stature in children born small for gestational age (SGA) at full-term.

Methods: This was a retrospective study. The subjects were full-term SGA infants who were followed up until the age of 2 years. The risk factors for short stature were identified with univariate and multivariate analyses.

Results: Of 456 full-term SGA children enrolled in this study, 28 cases had short stature at 2 years of age. A significant decrease in placental perfusion was found in the short children group with intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM) technology, which was an advanced bi-exponential diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) model of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) (p = 0.012). Compared to non-short children born SGA at full-term, the short children group underwent an incomplete catch-up growth. Mothers who suffered from systemic lupus erythematosus were more likely to have a short child born SGA (p = 0.023). The morbidity of giant placental chorioangioma was higher in the short children group. The pulsatility index (PI), resistivity index (RI), and systolic-diastolic (S/D) ratio of umbilical artery were higher in the short children group than in the non-short control group (p = 0.042, 0.041, and 0.043). Multivariate analysis demonstrated that decrease of perfusion fraction (f _p) in IVIM of placental MRI, chromosomal abnormalities, short parental height, and absence of catch-up growth were associated with a higher risk of short stature in children born SGA at full-term.

Conclusion: Risk factors for short stature in full-term SGA children at 2 years of age included a decrease of perfusion fraction f _p in IVIM of placental MRI, chromosomal abnormalities, and short parental height.

Keywords: children; full-term; risk factor; short; small for gestational age.