Features of the cardiovascular system in babies born with different types of intrauterine growth restriction

Abstract

Based on the data of clinical and anamnestic examination, cardiointervalography, electrocardiography, and Doppler echocardiography, the investigators examined the features of the cardiovascular system in children born by women with compromised somatic and gynecological histories in the outcome of complicated pregnancy. Groups 1 and 2 included 72 and 69 infants with and without fetal growth restriction, respectively. Group 1 comprised Subgroup 1a of 57 infants with asymmetrical intrauterine growth restriction and Subgroup 1b of 15 children with symmetrical one; of them there were 13 and 2 infants with hypoplastic and dysplastic types. Apparently healthy infants born by apparently healthy mothers in the outcome of physiological pregnancies made up Group 3 (n = 25). There is proof that there are significantly important features of autonomic regulation of cardiac activity and morphofunctional characteristics of the heart. The infants with symmetrical intrauterine growth retardation, unlike those with asymmetrical one, were observed to have impaired autonomic regulation of cardiac activity, which was less obvious at birth, deteriorating over time. At birth, the babies had morphological features of the heart and a greater frequency of functioning of fetal communications. Impaired myocardial metabolic processes prevailed within the first month of life and there was a large frequency of changes similar to those in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy by the end of the first half of life. The featuresrevealed in the infants with different types of intrauterine growth restriction require electrocardiographic and ultrasound examinations, a pediatric cardiologist’s consultations at a maternity hospital, and a subsequent personalized follow-up with corrective measures at an outpatient setting.