Intima–media thickness of the abdominal aorta of neonate with different gestational ages

PURPOSE: To determine aortic intima-media thickness (aIMT) values in newborns with different gestational ages and to asses the effect of antenatal steroids on aIMT. METHODS: Two hundred forty newborns from healthy mothers had their distal abdominal aIMT measured during abdominal sonographic examination. The neonates were divided into 4 groups (60 in each group) according to gestational age: group I (25-28 weeks), group II (29-32 weeks), group III (33-37 weeks), and group IV (38-42 weeks). RESULTS: The interobserver and intersubject intraclass correlation coefficient was 0.93 and 0.94, respectively. Mean aIMT was 0.316 mm, 0.335 mm, 0.348 mm, and 0.385 mm, respectively, in group I, II, III, and IV, increasing significantly with gestational age at birth (p < 0.0001). There was no apparent effect of antenatal steroid use on aIMT. Multivariate regression models for mean aIMT demonstrated a significant association with aortic lumen diameter (p < 0.0001). CONCLUSION: Abdominal aIMT can be reproducibly measured in neonates and may be a useful tool for epidemiologic studies.