Background: Enough evidence exists that repercussions of maternal diabetes are not only confined to fetal and neonatal life, but also result in deficient acclimatisation of the endocrine pancreas and insulin resistance in later life. Present study was undertaken to determine the size of the pancreas in newborns of diabetic mothers. 

Material and methods: An observational cross-sectional study was conducted during a period of two years from March 2021 to March 2023. Primary objective was assessment of pancreatic size in neonates of GDM mothers whereas secondary objective was correlation of pancreatic size with birth weight. Maximum diameters of the head, body, and tail of the pancreas of newborns by ultrasonography were measured and Pearson correlation coefficient was used for correlation with birth weight.

Results: Seventy newborns, thirty-five born to GDM mothers and thirty-five to non-GDM mothers were included in the study. Baseline clinical parameters in the women of GDM group showed higher age, pre-pregnancy BMI, comorbidities, LSCS, male newborn than in the non-GDM group (p<0.05). Statistical analysis revealed mean ± SD of infant’s pancreatic head (mm), body (mm), tail (mm) in GDM of 4.81 ± 1.37, 4.65 ± 1.11, 4.09 ± 1.12 which was significantly higher as compared to non GDM group (3.56 ± 0.73), (3.67 ± 0.7), (3.33 ± 0.71) (p value <.05). Correlation of pancreatic measurement with birth weight showed negative correlation with correlation coefficient of 0.12, 0.184 respectively. 

Conclusion: The pancreatic head, body and tail in neonates born to GDM mothers were larger than neonates born to non GDM mothers. There was no correlation with the birth weight and the pancreatic size. This study is a prefatory work and further longitudinal studies on pancreatic size with larger sample size is needed to definite correlation between feto-maternal variables and its future metabolic outcomes.

Surya Kumar Singh is the director of IMS and the dean faculty of medicine. He is a professor at the department of endocrinology and metabolism in the Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi. He completed DM endocrinology in 1988 from IMS, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi. He was a professor and head of the department of endocrinology and metabolism in the Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi. He was a former president, vice president and secretary ESI during 2017.

He was a professor of endocrinology since 2003 and INSA and European commission fellowships.

He published 165 Publications, 80 International and 86 National Publication. He is a principal investigator ICMR, UGC projects