Association of pregnancy hypocalcemia and neonatal growth indices

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Associate Professor, Department of Endocrinology, Metabolic Diseases Research Center, Faculty of Medicine, Qazvin University of Medical Sciences, Qazvin, Iran.

2 Pathologist, Metabolic Diseases Research Center, Faculty of Medicine, Qazvin University of Medical Sciences, Qazvin, Iran.

3 PhD student of Epidemiology, School of Health, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

4 Student of Medicine, School of Medicine, Metabolic Diseases Research Center, Qazvin University of Medical Sciences, Qazvin, Iran

5 Assistant Professor, Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Metabolic Diseases Research Center, Faculty of Medicine, Qazvin University of Medical Sciences, Qazvin, Iran.

Abstract

Introduction: Hypocalcemia is a common condition in pregnancy. Approximately 20-30 g maternal calcium is actively transferred to the fetus during pregnancy for fetal skeletal mineralization. The aim of this study was to determine the association of pregnancy hypocalcemia with neonatal growth indices.
Methods: This cohort study was conducted on 112 pregnant women with the gestational age of 22-26 weeks in 2016. Calcium, albumin, 25(OH)D, and urinary calcium/creatinine ratio were measured for all participants. Hypocalcemia was defined as corrected serum calcium level of < 8.5 mg/dL. Maternal 25(OH)D level and calcium/creatinine ratio, as well as neonatal growth indices (i.e., height, weight, and head circumference) were measured and compared between the normocalcemic and hypocalcemic groups using the t-test. The adjusted means of neonatal growth indices for age, body mass index, and 25(OH) D were compared between the normocalcemic and hypocalcemic groups using ANCOVA. P-value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant.
Results: Out of the 112 subjects, 35 (31.2%) cases had hypocalcemia. The mean 25(OH)D, calcium/creatinine ratio, and neonatal growth indices were not significantly different between the normocalcemic and hypocalcemic groups (P>0.05). Furthermore, neonatal growth indices were not significantly different in the maternal calcium quartiles. The two groups showed no significant difference in terms of the adjusted mean of neonatal growth indices (P>0.05).
Conclusion: According to the findings of the present study, hypocalcemia was a prevalent condition in pregnancy; however, this condition exerted no adverse effects on neonatal growth indices.

Keywords

References

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The Iranian Journal of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Infertility
Volume 20, Issue 12
March 2018
Pages 17-22

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