Pregnancy Outcomes Among Women with and Without Diabetic Microvascular Disease (White's Classes B To FR) Versus Non-Diabetic Controls

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to evaluate the impact of contemporary management on the maternal and neonatal outcomes of pregnancies complicated by diabetes in women with microvascular disease versus women without microvascular disease. The study population consisted of two hundred and eighty-eight (288) pregnant women with pregestational diabetes and one hundred and fifty (150) healthy pregnant controls. Diabetic women were grouped according to the presence (n = 103) or absence of diabetic microvascular disease (n = 185). Data were collected regarding diabetes management, level of glycemic control, and the development of antenatal complications. Maternal and neonatal outcomes were compared among the three groups. Women in the diabetes groups were stratified according to mean blood glucose levels and glycosylated hemoglobin during each trimester. There was no significant difference found between the two diabetes groups in terms of preterm labor, polyhydramnios, pyelonephritis, and growth restriction. The only maternal complications that occurred with increased incidence among women with microvascular disease were acute hypertensive complications (51.6 vs. 32.9%; p<0.05). However, when the diabetes groups were compared to healthy controls, a significant difference was seen in all maternal and neonatal complications. Preterm delivery, polyhydramnios, and large-for-gestational-age (LGA) infants were associated with poor third-trimester metabolic control as compared with others in satisfactory metabolic controls: 30.8 vs. 11.4% for preterm delivery; 17.3 vs. 5.1% for polyhydramnios; 51.9 vs. 33.9% for LGA; p<0.05. Congenital malformations were associated with poor first-trimester glucose control (5.8 vs. 1.3% anomalies in well-controlled women). Furthermore, major congenital malformations were also significantly increased in the offspring of women with diabetic microvascular disease 6.8%, as compared to 1.69% in diabetic women without microvascular disease; p<0.01. The incidence of hypertensive complications did not differ between the two diabetic groups. Pregestational diabetic women with and without microvascular disease can be counseled to anticipate comparably favorable pregnancy outcomes, although maternal and neonatal complications may exceed that experienced by pregnant women without diabetes mellitus.