ABSTRACT
Prognosis, complications, options regarding pregnancy termination, thresholds for delivery, when antenatal corticosteroids would be administered in anticipation of preterm birth, and the planned frequency and type of antenatal surveillance should be discussed with the patient with FGR and her family members as available. Recommendations resulting from these discussions should be documented in the patient’s chart (119). Prognosis depends largely upon the underlying etiology. Aneuploidy, fetal malformations, and intrauterine infection are associated with a worse prognosis. In instances where these factors are absent, gestational age at delivery, amniotic fluid volume, absent/reversed end-diastolic flow of the UA, and birth weight are independent predictors of adverse neonatal outcome (40). More specifically, gestational age is one of the best predictors of outcome, where prior to 29 weeks and 2 days, it is the leading predictor of intact survival. Beyond this age, birth weight above 600 g, DV Doppler, and cord artery pH were the strongest predictors of intact survival and neonatal mortality in one study (122).
