The influence of intra-uterine growth retardation on brainstem development of preterm infants.

This study examined brainstem function in 76 appropriate-for-gestational-age (AGA) and 25 small-for-gestational-age (SGA) infants born at less than 35 weeks gestation, using brainstem auditory evoked responses. During the preterm period the mean brainstem conduction time (BCT) of the 25 SGA infants was significantly shorter than that of AGA babies of the same gestation. The BCTs of the AGA infants decreased rapidly during postnatal development to term-equivalent age; those of the SGA infants did not change significantly. It is likely that prenatal factors are responsible for the alteration of early development in the neural function of non-asphyxiated SGA infants. This change in neural development may be important in determining later neurological performance.