摘要：

The clinical term small for gestational age (SGA) is used to describe newborn infants whose birth weight falls below the 10th percentile of weight for their gestational age. This classification encompasses two broad developmental phenotypes, infants which have achieved their genetic potential for growth but are constitutionally small, and infants that have experienced fetal growth restriction (FGR) and have failed to achieve their relative growth potential. The diagnosis of FGR has an immediate clinical relevance for SGA babies because FGR is associated with an increased risk of perinatal complications, including preventable neonatal mortality. Due to the serious nature of such perinatal complications there has been a great deal of interest in identifying and defining the immediate causes and consequences of FGR. Currently FGR is commonly described as a consequence of adverse prenatal environmental stimuli that can impair gas exchange and nutrient delivery to the fetus disrupting the normal patterns of growth and development. Placental dysfunction and adverse maternal factors such as, smoking, maternal disease and malnutrition are considered key pathological factors responsible for FGR. While the majority of clinical research has focused on the immediate neonatal consequences of FGR, recent research over the past 15 years suggests that FGR can adversely affect postnatal health outcomes well into adulthood. This concept is called the developmental origins of health and disease hypothesis (DOHaD).

展开