Don't forget increased risk of fetal growth restriction

doi:10.1136/bmj.b1069

Published 17 March 2009, doi:10.1136/bmj.b1069
Cite this as: BMJ 2009;338:b1069

Letters

Coeliac disease

Don’t forget increased risk of fetal growth restriction

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

The article on how easily coeliac disease is missed did nothighlight the association between undiagnosed coeliac diseaseand an increased risk of fetal growth restriction.¹ Fetal growthrestriction is a major pregnancy complication responsible fora 5-20 fold increase in perinatal mortality and for considerableperinatal morbidity. In addition, it may have lifelong consequences,ranging from neurodevelopmental delay to an increased risk ofdeveloping hypertension, heart disease, and diabetes later inlife.²

There is a growing body of evidence supporting the associationbetween undiagnosed coeliac disease and fetal growth restriction,odds ratios varying between 1.3 and 6.³ ⁴ Treatment of maternalcoeliac disease reduces the risk of fetal growth restrictionto that of the general population.⁵ Two further studies recentlycarried out in our unit, one in a high risk Irish populationand the other a large Danish population based study, confirmthis association and highlight the benefits of treatment . . . [Full text of this article]

Fergus P McCarthy, clinical research fellow¹, Ali S Khashan, postdoctoral researcher¹, Eamonn Quigley, professor of medicine and human physiology², Fergus Shanahan, professor and chair³, Louise Kenny, senior lecturer¹

¹ Anu Research Centre, Cork University Maternity Hospital, University College Cork, Wilton, Cork, Republic of Ireland, ² Alimentary Pharmabiotic Centre, Department of Medicine, University College Cork, ³ Department of Medicine, University College Cork

Fergus.mccarthy@ucc.ie