Strengths and limitations
This was a cross-sectional study that collected the clinical data of
pregnant women who had given birth at our center. All singleton
pregnancies were included during the period except those with fetal
structural or chromosomal abnormalities or missing data. Compared to the
other studies analyzed in the population high-risk for FGR, our data
tended to summarize and analyze the data in a general population. It was
because third-trimester growth ultrasound was part of routine prenatal
care late pregnancy ultrasound in China. Besides, this study compared
the three most common FGR definitions in one paper in order to make a
more comprehensive and convictive conclusion, thereby providing evidenct
on choosing the most suitable FGR definition for Chiense population.
However, this study has limitations. The primary and secondary outcomes
of this study only focused on the neonatal period, but not the long-term
complications. Therefore, we should continue to follow up on long-term
neurological development disorders and the incidence of cardiovascular
and metabolic diseases in the children with suspected FGR. Because the
number of early FGR cases in this study was relatively small, we did not
distinguish early FGR and late FGR in this study. In the future, we hope
to perform prospective studies and increase the sample size.
Additionally, this study mainly used the last ultrasound biometrics as
indexes to assess growth potential. However, obviously, according to the
core meaning of FGR, it would make more sense if the fetal growth curve
could be tracked during the whole pregnancy. Therefore, the next step
was to improve the FGR detection rate by studying longitudinal changes
in FGR.