A comparison on the prevalence and outcomes of gestational versus type 2 diabetes mellitus in 1718 Saudi pregnancies.

The presence of either diabetes mellitus type 2 (DMT2) or GDM constitute a high-risk pregnancy. Given the high rate of DMT2 and GDM in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), no study has ever compared whether GDM outcomes are comparable to those with DMT2. The present study aims to compare for the first time, maternal and neonatal outcomes among Saudi patients with GDM, DMT2 and non-DM groups. This is a retrospective study covering data from 1718 pregnant patients admitted at King Fahad Medical City, Riyadh, KSA from April 2011 to March 2013. The prevalence of GDM was 13.8%, DMT2 was 0.9%. DMT2 group had the highest mean parity and shortest mean gestational age as compared to other groups. Half of all the subjects in the DMT2 group also experienced preterm labor, as opposed to only 10% in GDM and 14% in the non-DM group, respectively. Finally, neonates delivered by DMT2 mothers had the highest percentage of admissions to NICU (33%) as compared to 10% in the non-DM group and only 5% in the GDM group. Outcomes of the GDM group are almost comparable with the non-DM group. While the results of the present study reflect the efficient management of GDM cases in Saudi patients, DMT2 complicated pregnancies, which are considered to be at a much higher risk for maternal and neonatal complications, should be given equally special attention.