Pritchard, Natasha L., Hiscock, Richard J., Lockie, Elizabeth, Permezel, Michael, McGauren, Monica F. G., Kennedy, Amber L., Green, Brittany, Walker, Susan P., and Lindquist, Anthea C.
Background Preterm infants are a group at high risk of having experienced placental insufficiency. It is unclear which growth charts perform best in identifying infants at increased risk of stillbirth and other adverse perinatal outcomes. We compared 2 birthweight charts (population centiles and INTERGROWTH-21st birthweight centiles) and 3 fetal growth charts (INTERGROWTH-21st fetal growth charts, World Health Organization fetal growth charts, and Gestation Related Optimal Weight [GROW] customised growth charts) to identify which chart performed best in identifying infants at increased risk of adverse perinatal outcome in a preterm population. Methods and findings We conducted a retrospective cohort study of all preterm infants born at 24.0 to 36.9 weeks gestation in Victoria, Australia, from 2005 to 2015 (28,968 records available for analysis). All above growth charts were applied to the population. Proportions classified as Conclusions In this study, fetal charts classified greater proportions of preterm and stillborn infants as SGA, which more accurately reflected true fetal growth restriction. Of the intrauterine charts, INTERGROWTH classified the smallest number of preterm infants as SGA, although it identified a particularly high-risk cohort, and GROW customised charts classified the greatest number at increased risk of perinatal mortality., Author(s): Natasha L. Pritchard 1,2, Richard J. Hiscock 1,2, Elizabeth Lockie 1, Michael Permezel 1,2, Monica F. G. McGauren 2, Amber L. Kennedy 1,2, Brittany Green 1, Susan P. Walker [...]