Definition
A child is defined as small for gestational age ( Small for Gestational Age - SGA) when its birth weight is less than the 10th percentile.
Intrauterine growth retardation can occur for various reasons, maternal, placental and fetal.
A newborn may be small at birth due to congenital infections (in particular, the TORCH complex), fetal hyponutrition, metabolic diseases, genetic defects and malformations.
Maternal causes include placental insufficiency secondary to a chronic maternal pathology, such as pre-eclampsia, hypertension, renal pathologies, long-lasting diabetes mellitus, endocrinopathies, collagen diseases, anemia, heart disease and neoplasms.
Other factors that can limit intrauterine growth are maternal drug addiction (eg cocaine and opioid use), smoking and alcohol consumption during pregnancy.
A small child for gestational age has a greater risk of perinatal asphyxia, meconium inhalation and hypoglycemia.
Possible Causes * of Young Child for Gestational Age
- Anemia
- Fanconi anemia
- Diabetes
- Herpes simplex
- Cytomegalovirus infection (CMV)
- Hypertension
- Placenta Accreta
- Placenta Previa
- Pre-eclampsia
- Rubella
- Feto-alcohol syndrome
- Toxoplasmosis
- Trisomy 13
- Trisomy 18
