The association between pentraxin 3 in maternal circulation and pathological intrauterine fetal growth restriction.

Objective: To assess the diagnostic accuracy of maternal serum pentraxin 3 (PTX3) in identifying pathological intrauterine fetal growth restriction (IUFGR) among women presented in the third trimester of pregnancy with a small for gestational age (SGA) fetus.

Study Design: This case control study was conducted in Ain-Shams University Maternity Hospital, Abbasiya Square, Cairo, Egypt and included women diagnosed at the third trimester of pregnancy as having a SGA fetus. Cases included pregnant women with pathological IUFGR, while women with physiologically SGA fetus were included in the control group.