GESTATIONAL DIABETES MELLITUS AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF CLEFT LIP / PALATE IN NEWBORNS

Several studies observed metabolic disorders in pregnancy as risk factors for birth defects, including orofacial clefts. Diabetes is associated with approx. 10% of the pregnancies, but in Romania, less than 5%. An obese and diabetic woman has 3 times more risk for an offspring with a craniofacial defect than healthy women suggesting that diabetes mellitus contributes to their pathogenesis with complex mechanisms