Incidence of Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy in Infants of Diabetic Mothers Attending in NICU

Diabetes is the most common endocrine disorder complicating pregnancy. Incidence of both type-I and type-II diabetes is increasing, throughout the world. As the incidence of diabetes continues to rise and increasingly affects individuals of all ages including young adults and children, women in child bearing age are at increased risk of diabetes during pregnancy [1].

The type 1 diabetes around the time of conception produces marked risk of embryopathy (neural tube defects, cardiac defects, and caudal regression syndrome) as these mother have high glycosylated hemoglobin at the time of embryogenesis (around 6-8 weeks of gestation) rather than IDM that are born to type 2 diabetes mothers who have macrosomia and other milder problems. The mothers who have been diagnosed as severe and unstable type1 diabetes in the later part of gestation have high chances of neonate being more affected with intrauterine growth restriction, asphyxia, and fetal death [2] and [3].

Due to the teratogenic effect of maternal diabetes, the reported incidence of congenital malformations among the newborns of diabetic mothers is five times greater than that of the general population [4].

Cardiac malformations are one of the most common types of these malformations which occur in about 8.5% of cases that is about 10 times more than its incidence in normal population (0.8%) [5].

Fetuses exposed to maternal hyperglycemia and hyperinsulinism, are prone to develop hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. It primarily affects the inter-ventricular septum, but can extend to the myocardium in more severe cases. Although the perinatal mortality rates associated with diabetes in pregnancy have declined considerably during the past eight decades and are now near those in the general population, it is only through continuing vigilance that such advances can be maintained. Both fetal and neonatal deaths occurred with increased frequency in diabetic pregnancies before the advent of modern management methods, and fetal deaths nationwide continue to be significantly higher among diabetic than non-diabetic pregnancies [6].