Oral Abstracts

Abstract

Background: Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is common but there is limited information available on neurodevelopmental outcomes in the offspring. Accordingly, it is important to examine trial data for any effect of maternal treatments on neurodevelopmental outcomes. Method: The Metformin in Pregnancy (MIG) trial compared perinatal outcomes for a large cohort of Australian and New Zealand mothers and their offspring. The neurodevelopment of New Zealand children was assessed at 24 months of age. Examiners, blind to maternal treatment group, administered the Bayley Scales of Infant Development-II and a pediatrician blind to group status administered a standard neurological examination. Results: Of the 95 children followed-up, 45 (47%) were born to mothers treated with insulin and 50 (53%) to mothers treated with metformin. Gender spread was similar in both groups. Examination revealed no significant relationship between neurological deficits and prenatal exposure to either metformin or insulin. There were also no significant differences in either mean mental developmental index (MDI) or mean psychomotor developmental index (PDI) between the two treatment groups. The mean (SD) MDI was 86.67 (15.02) versus 84.00 (16.07) for the insulin and metformin groups respectively. Similarly the mean (SD) PDI was 81.75 (12.72) versus 79.96 (14.15) for the insulin and metformin groups respectively. Conclusions: This study examining follow-up data from a randomized trial of insulin or metformin treatment for GDM demonstrated no signifi- cant differences in early neurodevelopment of the offspring. However, the scores were lower than for the general population and ongoing research is underway to determine status at school age.