CORRELATES OF PRENATAL VISCEROMEGALY

Aside from recognized overgrowth syndromes, instances of visceromegaly are hot uncommon at perinatal autopsy, The database of the University of Michigan Teratology Unit was screened for individual viscera excee ding the 90th centile for body and brain weight standards. The data we re stratified for several maternal (hypertension, diabetes, obesity), gestational (chorioamnionitis, oligohydramnios, amniorrhaea, polyhydra mnios), and fetal (body wall defect, cardiac malformation, renal malfo rmation, diaphragmatic hernia, nonimmune hydrops, twin transfusion syn drome) characteristics and tested for statistically significant excess ive numbers of heavy organs, The most striking associations were heavy adrenal glands and liver with chorioamnionitis, heavy heart with poly hydramnios and in the twin transfusion syndrome, and heavy heart and l iver with nonimmune hydrops. Excessive brain weight for body weight ha d a number of correlations, each most likely reflecting growth restric tion with sparing of brain growth. (C) 1998 Wiley-Liss, Inc.