Abstract
Fetal death is one of the most devastating complications in obstetrics which remained understudied in our population. This study was done to study the maternal and fetal risk factors that lead to fetal death. To compare the rate of different etiologies in early versus late Fetal Death (FD) in cases of FD presented to King Khalid University Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. A retrospective cohort study was conducted from 2006-2013 and cases were classified into Early FD (20-33 weeks + 6 days) and late FD (>= 34 weeks) groups. A total of 26539 births including 304 cases (1.14%) of FD occurred during the study period. About 24 cases were excluded from the final analyses due to missing records or incorrect coding. The remaining 280 subjects were categorized into early (46.4%) and late (53.6%) IUFD groups. A substantial number of subjects from early (46%) and late (68%) FD groups did not have regular antenatal care. There were no significant differences in the etiology of FD such as obstetric complications, maternal medical diseases, fetal congenital anomalies, umbilical cord abnormalities, and maternal/fetal infections between the two groups. Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) and Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM) were significantly associated with late IUFD (41 vs. 18.4% and 20.7 vs. 7.7%, respectively). Placental abnormalities were higher in the late FD group, although the difference was not statistically significant. Fetal death isn't a rare incidence. IUGR and GDM are significantly associated with increased frequency of late IUFD. Further research is needed for a firm understanding of the incidence of IUFD in Saudi Arabia. (C) 2019 The Authors. Published by IASE.