Peripheral nerve maturation in premature infants.

The association of peripheral nerve conduction velocity and conceptional age in premature infants is well established. However, the impact of premature birth on the rate of maturation of peripheral nerves is unclear. In this study a group of 119 premature infants and 32 term infants had nerve conduction velocity determinations. The correlation of velocity and conceptional age is significant. There appears to be no effect upon nerve conduction velocity by the occurrence of prenatal or postnatal events. It is unclear whether extrauterine rates of increase of velocity in prematures are comparable to intrauterine rates, but testing of prematures after they have reached their expected date of birth shows them to have identical mean values to term infants tested at term.