Could the E/A ratio be included in the cardiological evaluation of the offspring of diabetic mothers? A case-control study in South Sardinia

Abstract

Introduction Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a chronic disease widespread in the world. Sardinia represents, together with Finland, the region with the highest incidence of type 1 DM (DM1), as well as a high prevalence of gestational DM (GDM). Despite the improvement in obstetric surveillance, perinatal and long-term adverse outcomes are still frequent in the offspring of diabetic mothers. During gestations complicated by DM, fetal heart is one of the most affected organ potentially undergoing structural heart defects or several degrees of fetal myocardium hypertrophy and impaired cardiac function. Aim The aim of our study was to evaluate, through echocardiographic examination, cardiac features and performance in a South Sardinian population of newborns of diabetic mothers comparing them to a group of control subjects. Conclusions In our sample, the E/A ratio resulted a significant marker of early diastolic dysfunction in asymptomatic neonates born by diabetic mothers, even if such result should be confirmed on larger samples.