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CIRCULATORY ADAPTATION IN THE THERMOREGULATION OF FULLTERM AND PREMATURE NEWBORN INFANTS
Author(s) -
BERG KRISTINA,
CELANDER OLOV
Publication year - 1971
Publication title -
acta pædiatrica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.772
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1651-2227
pISSN - 0803-5253
DOI - 10.1111/j.1651-2227.1971.tb06657.x
Subject(s) - circulatory system , medicine , thermoregulation , reflex , peripheral , blood circulation , thermogenesis , plethysmograph , anesthesia , physiology , obesity , traditional medicine
Summary Blood flow measurements by venous occlusion plethysmography were performed on 131 sleeping healthy fullterm newborns at various external temperature conditions. The peripheral circulation varies among different individuals, but a definite relationship between ambient temperature and the rate of peripheral circulation could, nevertheless, be established. Different series of observations on exposure to acute changes of temperature conditions on a further 46 newborn infants allow the following conclusions: The control of peripheral circulation in relation to the temperature of the surroundings is reflex in nature and independent of the local effects of a cold stimulus. Circulatory changes are quantitatively prominent and do not support the view that thermolability in the newborn is due to a deficient thermocontrol of the cutaneous circulation. The circulatory thermoreflex operates even during the first day of life and is as prominent in premature infants as in fullterm infants. The importance of these observations in relation to other mechanisms deciding heat loss and thermogenesis in the newborn is briefly discussed.