Growth of children born to renal transplanted women

Neonates born to transplanted mothers are exposed to immunosuppressive drugs during gestation and have a higher risk of being born prematurely and small for gestational age than the general population. We have prospectively followed up 27 children born to renal transplanted mothers from a single center and 31 healthy children born at term with adequate weight for gestational age. Comparisons of weight and length measurements were made at birth, 1 month (+/- 0.9), 3 months (+/- 1.0), 6 months (+/- 1.0), 9 months (+/- 1.5), and 12 months (+/- 1.49) of age. There were a high rate of prematurity (51.9%) and neonates small for gestational age (40.7%) in the transplant group. At birth, in the transplant group, 28% of neonates had subnormal z-scores for weight and 40%, low z-scores for length. However, at 6 months of age, no significant differences were noticed in mean weight-for-age z-scores between groups (weight -0.43 vs -0.03; length -0.53 vs -0.08). At 12 months of age, comparable mean length-for-age z-scores were observed in both groups (weight 0.01 vs 0.27; length -0.07 vs 0.26). Conclusion: Despite high rates of premature births and neonates small for gestational age in the transplant group, there was a good recovery of growth during the first year. What is Known: Children born to renal transplanted mothers are exposed to immunosuppressive drugs during gestation {[}4]. They have high risk of premature birth and fetal growth restriction, immune alterations at birth, and risk of hospitalization for infection in the first months of life {[}5]. What is New: Despite high rates of premature birth and neonates small for gestational age, these infants had good growth recovery by 1 year of age. (AU)