Early Prediction of Gestational Diabetes Mellitus Using Placental Strain Elastography and Subcutaneous Adipose Tissue Thickness.

Aim: The aim of this study is to investigate the efficacy of placental strain ratio values measured by real-time sonoelastography and maternal subcutaneous adipose tissue thickness measured by two-dimensional ultrasonography in predicting gestational diabetes mellitus in the first trimester.

Materials And Methods: The population of the study consisted of the first 210 consecutive singleton pregnant women who applied for routine first-trimester screening between the 11th and 14th week of gestation.B-mode subcutaneous adipose tissue thickness sonography and real-time placental strain elastography scanning were performed.All patients underwent 75 g oral glucose tolerance test between the 24th and 28th week of gestation. American Diabetes Association criteria were used in the diagnosis of gestational diabetes mellitus.

Results: It was observed that body mass index (p<0.001), first-trimester fasting blood sugar (p<0.001), subcutaneous adipose tissue thickness (p<0.001), and placental strain ratio value (p<0.001) affected the development of gestational diabetes mellitus statistically. The multivariate analysis shown that subcutaneous adipose tissue thickness (odds ratio=1.271, 95% CI=1.142-1.416, p<0.001) and placental strain ratio value (odds ratio=3.664, 95% CI=1.927-6.969, p<0.001) were the independent risk factors affecting the development of gestational diabetes mellitus.

Conclusions: The findings of this study indicated a positive correlation between 75 g oral glucose tolerance test application and first trimester subcutaneous adipose tissue thickness and placental strain ratio. Using the cut-off values of>11.5 mm for subcutaneous adipose tissue and>0.986 for placental strain ratio, the development of gestational diabetes mellitus may be predicted in the early weeks of pregnancy.