Neonatal hypoglycemia in infants with intrauterine growth retardation due to pregnancy-induced hypertension.

The early-onset type (onset earlier than 28 gestational weeks) of pregnancy induced hypertension (PIH) has the clinical characteristics of a high incidence of intrauterine growth retardations (IUGR), fetal distress, neonatal hypoglycemia and hypertensive disposition. Moreover, the infants from early-onset type of PIH mothers showed a statistically significant higher incidence of neurological handicap (cerebral palsy, mental retardation and epilepsy) than late onset type. The infants with a neurological handicap had severe IUGR and intractable hypoglycemia in the early neonatal period, probably due to low storage of glucose in the liver and fetal hypoxia. Appropriate perinatal management, including proper evaluation of fetal well-being and good timing of delivery, could improve the outcome of infants from early-onset type of PIH mothers.

Follow-up study of neonatal hypoglycemia.

A follow-up study was done on the neurological handicap and intellectual development of high-risk infants with neonatal hypoglycemia. The frequency of neonatal hypoglycemia in high-risk infants is 8.6%, and the incidence of a major neurological handicap in high-risk infants with neonatal hypoglycemia is 11%. Risk factors for the handicap group are very low birthweight, intrauterine growth retardation, perinatal asphyxia and mothers with pregnancy-induced hypertension. Average DQ at 1.5 and 2.5 years and IQ at 4 and 6 years of very low birthweight infants with neonatal hypoglycemia showed no significant difference, in contrast to the control group.

Fetal pulmonary hypoplasia with hydrothorax.

Described is a case of fetal congenital malformation with hydrothorax, for which left pulmonary hypoplasia was initially presumed by ultrasonography and for which hypoplasia was diagnosed postnatally only in the left lower pulmonary lobe by a pulmonary technetium Tc-99m scintigram. The pathogenesis of this disease is discussed.