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Long‐Term Growth in Small‐for‐Date Children
Author(s) -
FITZHARDINGE P.M.,
INWOOD S.
Publication year - 1989
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.1651-2227.1989.tb17164.x
Subject(s) - medicine , term (time) , pediatrics , intensive care medicine , quantum mechanics , physics
. Fitzhardinge, P.M. and Inwood, S. (Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada). Long‐term growth in small‐for‐date children. Acta Paediatr Scand [Suppl] 349: 27, 1989. The growth patterns of 158 infants with significant intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR) were studied for the first 2 years of life. Eighty‐four infants were born after 36 completed weeks. All these full‐term infants survived; complete follow‐up data were obtained for 78. Acceleration of growth in weight began soon after birth and continued for an average of 6 months. Acceleration of linear growth began somewhat later, but was limited to the first 9 months. Twenty‐three infants (29%) were still below the 5th centile for both weight and height by 2 years of age. There was a negative correlation between the neonatal ponderal index and length at 18 months for females only. Seventy‐four infants were born prematurely, before 37 weeks’gestation. Mortality in this group was 18% and complete follow‐up data were obtained for 49 of the 61 survivors. Birth weight was regained on average at 11 days; accelerated weight velocity began 4–6 weeks before the expected date of delivery (term date). The potential for catch‐up growth lasted up to 9 months after the term date. By 18 months, however, 44% of these pre‐term infants were still below the 5th centile for weight. Size at 18 months post‐term was correlated with weight at the term date and length at 3 months post‐term, but not with the degree of IUGR or with the ponderal index.