The Impact of Gestational Diabetes in Pregnancy on the Cardiovascular System of Children at One Year of Age

Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is a common complication in pregnancy. The effect of GDM on the cardiovascular system after birth is still unclear. Between August 2015 and December 2018, 205 pregnant women were included in the prospective controlled observational study. Patients with GDM were assigned to the study group (n = 99), whereas (n = 107) healthy women served as controls. Postnatal follow up of their offspring was performed at 12 months of age. All included children (n = 125) underwent a specific standardized protocol including anthropometric data, such as weight, height, body mass index (BMI), blood pressure (BP) recordings and ultrasound measurements of the abdominal aortic intima-media-thickness (IMT). Furthermore, at least 10 min 3-channel electrocardiogram recording was done to evaluate the autonomic nervous system (ANS) by phase rectified signal averaging. There were no significant differences in anthropometric data between the groups, neither in the blood pressure nor in the intima-media-thickness of the aorta abdominals. However, in the study group, significantly lower average acceleration capacity (AAC) (study group −20.10 ± 3.04 ms, control group −18.87 ± 4.00 ms, p = 0.02) was found, indicating ANS activation at one year of age. Further studies are required to determine if these results are persistent and if these findings have long-term effects.