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Abdominal Aortic Intima-Media Thickness in Preschool Children Born Preterm

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Abstract

Recently aortic intima-media thickness (IMT) has been used as an earlier marker of preclinical atherosclerosis in high-risk children, such as those with type 1 diabetes mellitus and hypercholesterolemia. Children who were born preterm have an early elevation in insulin resistance, which may be a risk factor for metabolic syndrome in adulthood. However, there is no optimal marker of subsequent cardiovascular disease for children born preterm. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the effect of preterm birth on aortic IMT during the preschool period. Mean aortic IMT was measured by ultrasound in 26 subjects born preterm (gestational age <37 weeks [preterm group]) and 11 control subjects born at term (term group). The mean aortic IMT of the preterm group was significantly thicker than that of the term group (preterm group: median 577 μm, interquartile range (524–599) versus term group: 517 μm (442–544); p = 0.003). Mean aortic IMT may be one of the earlier markers of subclinical vasculopathy in preschool children who were born preterm.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the study participants and their parents for enrollment and commitment to our study.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatrics, Showa University School of Medicine, 1-5-8 Hatanodai, Shinagawa-Ku, Tokyo, 142-8666, Japan

    Takeshi Shimizu, Takanari Fujii, Junya Iwasaki, Yuya Nakano, Motoichiro Sakurai, Fumihiro Miura, Kazushige Dobashi, Katsumi Mizuno & Kazuo Itabashi

  2. Cardiovascular Center, Showa University Northern Yokohama Hospital, 35-1 Chigasakichuo, Tuzuki-ku, Yokohama city, Kanagawa, 224-8503, Japan

    Takanari Fujii

Authors
  1. Takeshi Shimizu
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  2. Takanari Fujii
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  3. Junya Iwasaki
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  4. Yuya Nakano
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  5. Motoichiro Sakurai
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  6. Fumihiro Miura
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  7. Kazushige Dobashi
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  8. Katsumi Mizuno
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  9. Kazuo Itabashi
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Correspondence to Takanari Fujii.

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Shimizu, T., Fujii, T., Iwasaki, J. et al. Abdominal Aortic Intima-Media Thickness in Preschool Children Born Preterm. Pediatr Cardiol 35, 121–125 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00246-013-0750-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00246-013-0750-0

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