Kidney size in infants of tightly controlled insulin-dependent diabetic mothers.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus in pregnant women on the kidney size of their infants. We measured kidney length in the first week of life using ultrasonography in 20 infants of tightly controlled insulin-dependent diabetic mothers and 20 healthy newborn controls, matched for birth weight. In the infants of diabetic mothers, the left kidney length ranged from 3.6 cm to 6.0 cm (4.2 cm +/- 0.5 cm, mean +/- SD). The right kidney length ranged from 3.3 cm to 4.9 cm (4.0 cm +/- 0.4 cm). In the control infants the left kidney length was 3.3 cm to 5.4 cm (4.3 cm +/- 0.6 cm), and the right kidney length was 3.4 cm to 5.3 cm (4.2 cm +/- 0.5 cm). There was no statistically significant difference in right or left kidney length between the two groups. We conclude that in this group of tightly controlled diabetic mothers, the diabetic state does not influence kidney size in their infants.