Measuring fetal thymus size: a new method for diabetes screening in pregnancy.

Objective

To investigate the correlation between fetal thymus size and diabetes in pregnancy.Method: Fetal thymus size was assessed in 160 pregnant women with gestational age of 19-39 weeks. They included 80 diabetic (investigation group) and 80 nondiabetic (control group) women. Fetal thymus size was measured by thymic-thoracic ratio. We did this with dividing the thymus' anteroposterior diameter by anteroposterior of mediastinum.

Results

Thymic-thoracic ratio was significantly smaller in fetuses of diabetic mothers compared to the nondiabetic group (p = .001). It remained significant after subgrouping diabetic mothers into overt diabetes, insulin-dependent gestational diabetes, and noninsulin-dependent gestational diabetes.

Conclusion

Although thymus size was smaller in fetuses of diabetic pregnant women compared to nondiabetic pregnant women, it seems that thymic-thoracic ratio can be a predictor of diabetes and its other related adverse effects during pregnancy.