First-trimester maternal abdominal subcutaneous and perirenal fat thickness and early identification of…

Cohort studyInternational journal of gynaecology and obstetrics: the official organ of the International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics· Jul 2026

First-trimester maternal abdominal subcutaneous and perirenal fat thickness and early identification of gestational diabetes: A prospective cohort study.

Giulia Palla, Maria M Montt-Guevara, Tiziana Fidecicchi … Tommaso Simoncini

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Maternal-Fetal MedicineCohort studyDiagnosis

Adding abdominal subcutaneous fat thickness improves gestational diabetes detection sensitivity.

First-trimester maternal abdominal subcutaneous and perirenal fat thickness and early identification of gestational diabetes: A prospective cohort study.

Giulia Palla … Tommaso Simoncini

International journal of gynaecology and obstetrics: the official organ of the International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics · Jul 2026

Purpose

To evaluate whether first-trimester abdominal subcutaneous fat thickness (abdominal subcutaneous fat thickness) and renal fat thickness (renal fat thickness) provide incremental value for early identification of gestational diabetes mellitus (gestational diabetes mellitus) and their association with obstetric complications.

Methods

This prospective observational cohort study included 268 singleton pregnancies undergoing first-trimester aneuploidy screening (11-13 +6 weeks) at the Division of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Pisa, Italy (2019-2020).

n = 268 singleton pregnancies

95.3%

Results

95.3%

adding abdominal fat thickness improved the correct identification of gestational diabetes

n = 268 singleton pregnancies

More results

Gestational diabetes mellitus developed in 23.9% of the cohort.

Women with gestational diabetes mellitus had higher BMI, first-trimester glycemia, upper and lower abdominal subcutaneous fat thickness (all P < 0.001), and renal fat thickness (P < 0.01).

More results

After adjustment for BMI, abdominal subcutaneous fat thickness-but not renal fat thickness-remained associated with gestational diabetes mellitus.

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Conclusion · 1 of 2

First-trimester abdominal subcutaneous fat thickness measurement was independently associated with gestational diabetes mellitus risk and showed incremental predictive value beyond conventional clinical risk factors.

Conclusion · 2 of 2

These findings support further investigation of ultrasound markers of maternal adiposity for early risk assessment in pregnancy.

First-trimester maternal abdominal subcutaneous and perirenal fat thickness and early identification of gestational diabetes: A prospective cohort study.

First-trimester maternal abdominal subcutaneous and perirenal fat thickness and early identification of gestational diabetes: A prospective cohort study.

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