OBJECTIVE:

To identify a maternal variable of arterial stiffness and a cut-off point that identifies neonates with low weight for gestational age, with a sensitivity> 75%.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

Prospective cohort study, in a health institution in Medellín (Colombia) between April 2017 and February 2019. Patients >15 years of age, with gestation ≤17 weeks were included. Pregnant women with chronic arterial hypertension, a fetus with malformations incompatible with life, multiple gestation, refusal to participate, or the development of a hypertensive disorder associated with pregnancy were excluded. The aortic enlargement index, pulse wave velocity, and central aortic systolic pressure were measured during pregnancy and their relationship with the presence of low weight for gestational age at birth was evaluated. The discrimination of the variables with respect to the outcome was carried out by means of the area under the curve (AUC ROC), in addition the model of generalized estimable equations was used for the difference between the “rate of change” of the variables.

RESULTS:

After a loss of 6.4% of the pregnant women, the follow-up of 1661 patients was completed, of which 18.1% corresponded to pregnant women with neonates with low weight for gestational age. When evaluating the AUC-ROC of the arterial stiffness variables, none of the cut-off points evaluated for each of the variables reached the expected sensitivity.

CONCLUSION:

The variables of arterial stiffness evaluated seem not to be a useful tool to predict the risk of fetal growth deficit.