{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,3]],"date-time":"2025-11-03T09:18:13Z","timestamp":1762161493553,"version":"3.37.3"},"reference-count":15,"publisher":"Springer Science and Business Media LLC","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2019,11,27]],"date-time":"2019-11-27T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1574812800000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2019,11,27]],"date-time":"2019-11-27T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1574812800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["link.springer.com"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Biol Sex Differ"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2019,12]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title><jats:sec>\n<jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>To investigate the effect of fetal sex on fibroids\u2019 growth during pregnancy according to the hCG serum levels<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec><jats:sec>\n<jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>Observational study conducted from January 2007 to December 2016 on women with ultrasound identification of uterine fibroids who had a pregnancy within 1 year from diagnosis. The fibroids diameter was determined during the pre-pregnancy ultrasound, early first trimester (5\u20137 weeks), late first trimester (11\u201313 weeks), second trimester (19\u201321 weeks), and third trimester (31\u201333 weeks). The diameter growth was calculated in each interval between two ultrasounds. The hCG serum levels were determined both in early and late first trimester. The correlation between hCG levels and fibroid diameter was evaluated. Obstetric outcomes collected were gestational weeks at birth and the rate of cesarean section. Neonatal outcomes were birthweight and Apgar score at 1 min.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec><jats:sec>\n<jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>Eighty-seven of the included women had a male fetus, and 70 had a female fetus. A progressive increase of fibroid diameter was observed from pre-pregnancy to second trimester for both fetal sexes. In third trimester, the mean \u00b1 SD fibroid diameter of female fetuses showed a slowdown, while the mean \u00b1 SD fibroid diameter of male fetuses continued to grow. Women carrying a female fetus presented a higher fibroid diameter in early first trimester (33.5 \u00b1 13.3 mm vs 27.4 \u00b1 11.0 mm, <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic> &lt; 0.01), late first trimester (40.2 \u00b1 13.9 mm vs 34.6 \u00b1 11.7 mm, <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic> &lt; 0.01), and second trimester (40.5 \u00b1 14.9 mm vs 34.7 \u00b1 10.3 mm, <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic> &lt; 0.01). The hCG serum levels resulted higher in women with a female fetus: 61406 (50554-71760) mU\/ml vs 46016 (37160-56744) mU\/ml (<jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic> &lt; 0.01). A positive correlation between hCG levels and fibroid diameter was found both for male and female fetuses (male <jats:italic>r<\/jats:italic> = 0.77, 95% CI 0.71\u20130.82, <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic> &lt; 0.01 and female <jats:italic>r<\/jats:italic> = 0.82, 95% CI 0.76\u20130.86, <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic> &lt; 0.01).<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec><jats:sec>\n<jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>Women with female fetus seem to have a higher growth of fibroids up to second trimester of pregnancy. This process may be mediated by the higher serum hCG levels found in women expecting a female fetus.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1186\/s13293-019-0266-2","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2019,11,27]],"date-time":"2019-11-27T05:02:54Z","timestamp":1574830974000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/springer_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":6,"title":["Comparison of uterine fibroids\u2019 growth pattern during pregnancy according to fetal sex: an observational study"],"prefix":"10.1186","volume":"10","author":[{"given":"Giovanni","family":"Delli Carpini","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Valeria","family":"Verdecchia","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Maria","family":"Papiccio","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Camilla","family":"Grelloni","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8037-4947","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Andrea","family":"Ciavattini","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"297","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2019,11,27]]},"reference":[{"key":"266_CR1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"100","DOI":"10.1067\/mob.2003.99","volume":"188","author":"DD Baird","year":"2003","unstructured":"Baird DD, Dunson DB, Hill MC, Cousins D, Schectman JM. 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The local ethical committee approved the execution of the present study (Comitato Etico Regionale Marche, CERM Prot. N 2015 0486OR).","order":1,"name":"Ethics","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Ethics approval and consent to participate"}},{"value":"Not applicable","order":2,"name":"Ethics","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Consent for publication"}},{"value":"The authors declare that they have no competing interests.","order":3,"name":"Ethics","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Competing interests"}}],"article-number":"53"}}