ABSTRACT
Over many years the literature in gestational diabetes has been made complex by different definitions and testing strategies between different countries and often within countries. A major division internationally existed between those countries, like the United States, who followed a pattern of screening and testing ultimately derived from the National Diabetes Data Group (NDDG), and those following a pattern
Abbreviations ........................................................................................................... 33 2.1 Introduction .................................................................................................... 33 2.2 Gestational Diabetes: A Brief History ............................................................34 2.3 Gestational and Pregestational Diabetes ........................................................ 38 2.4 IADPSG Criteria ............................................................................................ 42 2.5 What Is Gestational Diabetes (or What Should It Be?) .................................. 42 References ................................................................................................................ 45
derived from the World Health Organisation (WHO). Broadly, the NDDG suggested a pattern of universal screening with 50 g oral glucose challenge test (OGCT), followed by 100 g oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) and diagnostic criteria ultimately derived from the work of O’Sullivan and Mahan. WHO promoted a pattern of risk factor screening, diagnostic testing with the 75 g OGTT, and criteria initially reflecting diagnostic levels for diabetes and impaired glucose tolerance in the nonpregnant population.1 Within these two broad schools there was further variation between countries in screening and diagnostic levels. Inevitably, this resulted in publications and clinic populations with different degrees of glucose abnormality and differing rates of complications. Comparisons between and interpretation of research studies proved difficult.
