Abnormal Fetal Echocardiography in Diabetic Pregnant Women at a Tertiary Care Hospital: A Descriptive Cross-sectional Study

Abstract

Introduction: The sedentary lifestyle of women and change in their food habits has a significant
role in developing diabetes in pregnancies. This leads to an increased chance of fetal cardiac
abnormality born by a mother with gestational diabetes and pre-existing diabetes. The objective
of the study is to find out the prevalence of abnormal fetal echocardiography in gestational and
pre-existing diabetic pregnant women at a tertiary care hospital.

Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 104 diabetic pregnant
women in a tertiary care hospital from April 15, 2017, to April 14, 2018. Ethical approval
was obtained from the institutional review committee. The convenient sampling method was
used. The patients who were diagnosed as gestational diabetes and diabetic before pregnancy
were included in the study. Fetal echocardiography was mainly done at a gestational age of
22-32 weeks depending upon the time of diagnosis of gestational diabetes and for pre-diabetic
women, fetal echocardiography was done at 24-26 weeks of gestation. Statistical analysis was
done using the Statistical Package of the Social Sciences version 20.

Results: Among 104 patients, 16 (15.38%) patients had abnormal fetal echocardiography.
Eighty-three (79.81%) were gestational diabetics, 21 (20.19%) were pre-existing diabetic
women. Among 83 gestational diabetes, 7 (8.4%) had abnormal echo finding and among 21
pre-existing diabetics, 9 (42.8%) had abnormal echo finding.

Conclusions: There was an increased chance of fetal cardiac malformation in gestational diabetic
and pre-existing diabetics diabetic especially in an uncontrolled glycemic state. And, if they
were diagnosed prenatally, clinical outcomes for both mother and fetus would have been better.