Prenatal sonographic diagnosis of congenital heart disease and intrauterine growth restriction: a case-control study

PURPOSE: To determine the prevalence of intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) in cases of congenital heart disease (CHD) and to evaluate whether the prenatal diagnosis of isolated CHD was a significant risk factor for IUGR. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective case-control study of prenatally detected CHD with delivery at >/=20 weeks' gestation between January 1, 1998, and December 31, 2001. Four groups were analyzed: (1) all cases with CHD, (2) after exclusion of abnormal karyotype, (3) after exclusion of abnormal karyotype and prenatally diagnosed extracardiac anomaly, and (4) after exclusion of abnormal karyotype and prenatally and postnatally diagnosed extracardiac anomaly. The prevalence of IUGR was determined in each of the 4 study groups and was compared with controls. RESULTS: There were 13,395 deliveries at >/=20 weeks' gestation. Of the 180 cases of CHD, 22.8% were associated with IUGR compared with 11.6% of controls (p < 0.01). In contrast, there was no statistically significant difference in the prevalence of IUGR in the 140 cases of isolated CHD compared with controls (12.9% versus 10.0%). CONCLUSION: The prenatal detection of isolated CHD does not seem to be associated with IUGR.