ABSTRACT
This chapter summarizes the literature about the influence of collagen disease in pregnancy complicated by Intrauterine Growth Retardation (IUGR). Special attention is paid to the placenta as an etiological factor, as well as its immunological background. IUGR may be classified by ultrasonography into symmetrical and asymmetrical type. In the symmetrical type, the biparietal diameter increases in parallel with, but below the normal growth curve, and the head to abdominal circumference ratio is normal. The pathogenesis of IUGR is probably reduced uteroplacental blood flow and the resultant growth retardation is of the asymmetrical type. In patients who receive heavy medication of corticosteroids and/or azathioprine the growth retardation is concordant for head and body producing symmetrical IUGR. The classification of IUGR into symmetrical and asymmetrical is clinically important in giving a clue to the etiology of growth retardation in collagen diseases and in directing further clinical management.
