Metabolic Syndrome Prevalence in Women with Gestational Diabetes Mellitus in the Second Trimester of Gravidity.

Background: Women with gestational diabetes (GDM) have an increased risk of metabolic syndrome (MS) after delivery. MS could precede gravidity. The aims of this study were (i) to detect the prevalence of MS in women at the time of GDM diagnosis, (ii) to detect the prevalence of MS in the subgroup of GDM patients with any form of impaired glucose tolerance after delivery (PGI), and (iii) to determine whether GDM women with MS have a higher risk of peripartal adverse outcomes. Methods: A cross-sectional observational study comprised n = 455 women with GDM. International Diabetes Federation (IDF) criteria for MS definition were modified to the pregnancy situation. Results: MS was detected in 22.6% of GDM patients in those with PGI 40%. The presence of MS in GDM patients was associated with two peripartal outcomes: higher incidence of pathologic Apgar score and macrosomia (p = 0.01 resp. p = 0.0004, chi-square). Conclusions: The presence of MS in GDM patients is a statistically significant risk factor (p = 0.04 chi-square) for PGI. A strong clinical implication of our findings might be to include MS diagnostics within GDM screening using modified MS criteria in the second trimester of pregnancy.

Development of a New Risk Score for Stratification of Women with Gestational Diabetes Mellitus at High Risk of Persisting Postpartum Glucose Intolerance Using Routinely Assessed Parameters.

The aims of the study were (i) to find predictive factors for early postpartum conversion of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) into persisting glucose intolerance (PGI), (ii) to evaluate potential differences in adverse perinatal outcomes in GDM women with and without early postpartum PGI and, finally, (iii) to establish a risk score to predict postpartum PGI. A cross-sectional study comprised 244 GDM patients with known age, parity, positive family history of diabetes, pre-gestational BMI, comorbidities, smoking history, results of mid-trimester oral glucose tolerance test, HbA1c, obstetric complications, neonatal outcomes and mode of delivery. A risk score was calculated using parameters with highest odds ratios in a statistic scoring model. Significant differences between women with and without PGI postpartum were ascertained for mid-trimester fasting plasma glucose (p < 0.001), HbA1c above 42 mmol/mol (p = 0.035), prevalence of obesity (p = 0.007), hypothyroidism, family history of diabetes and smoking. We also observed higher incidence of prolonged and complicated delivery in PGI group (p = 0.04 and 0.007, respectively). In conclusion, this study identified several parameters with predictive potential for early PGI and also adverse peripartal outcomes. We established a simple risk-stratification score for PGI prediction applicable for GDM affected women prior their leaving maternity ward. Yet, given a relatively small sample size as a main limitation of this study, the proposed score should be validated in the larger cohort.