Background: The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between the maternal level of antiphospholipid antibodies (aPA) measured by anticardiolipin antibodies (aCL) and fetal growth retardation (SGA).
Methods: A nested case control design was carried out in a prospective cohort study of 1552 para I and para II women. The study group consisted of all 138 women who gave birth to a SGA-child (defined as birthweight < 10th percentile). A control group of 276 women was randomly selected from mothers of non-SGA children. Levels of aPA were measured in banked sera drawn from the women in the 33rd week of pregnancy and compared between cases and controls.
Results: There were 3 (2.5%) sera with aPA above 97.5 percentile among the cases and 3 (1.2%) among the controls. This difference was not statistically significant.
Conclusion: Antiphospholipid antibody measurements obtained at 33 weeks of gestation cannot be used to assess the risk of birth of a small for gestational age infant among parous women.