Postgraduate School of Pediatrics, University of Torino, 10126 Turin, Italy.
Division of Pediatrics and Neonatology, Department of Maternal Medicine, Nuovo Ospedale degli Infermi, 13875 Ponderano (Biella), Italy.
Nutrients. 2020 Jun 30;12(7):1941. doi: 10.3390/nu12071941.
Preterm infant growth is a major health indicator and needs to be monitored with an appropriate growth curve to achieve the best developmental and growth potential while avoiding excessive caloric intake that is linked to metabolic syndrome and hypertension later in life. New international standards for size at birth and postnatal growth for preterm infants are available and need implementation in clinical practice. A prospective, single center observational study was conducted to evaluate the in-hospital and long-term growth of 80 preterm infants with a mean gestational age of 33.3 ± 2.2 weeks, 57% males. Size at birth and at discharge were assessed using the INTERGROWTH-21 standards, at preschool age with World Health Organization (WHO) child growth standards. The employment of INTERGROWTH-21 Preterm Postnatal longitudinal standards during the in-hospital follow-up significantly reduced the diagnosis of short term extrauterine growth restriction when compared to commonly used cross sectional neonatal charts, with significant lower loss of percentiles between birth and term corrected age ( < 0.0001). The implementation of a package of standards at birth, preterm postnatal growth standards and WHO child growth standards proved to be consistent, with correlation between centile at birth and at follow-up, and therefore effective in monitoring growth in a moderate and late preterm infant cohort without chronic or major morbidities. Infants identified as small for gestational age at birth showed significantly more frequently a need for auxological referral.
早产儿的生长是一个主要的健康指标，需要通过适当的生长曲线进行监测，以实现最佳的发育和生长潜力，同时避免过度的热量摄入，因为这与成年后患代谢综合征和高血压有关。新的国际早产儿出生时大小和出生后生长标准已经可用，需要在临床实践中实施。进行了一项前瞻性、单中心观察性研究，以评估 80 名平均胎龄为 33.3 ± 2.2 周、57%为男性的早产儿的住院期间和长期生长情况。使用 INTERGROWTH-21 标准评估出生时和出院时的大小，使用世界卫生组织（WHO）儿童生长标准评估学龄前的大小。与常用的新生儿横断面图表相比，在住院期间使用 INTERGROWTH-21 早产儿出生后纵向标准显著降低了短期宫外生长受限的诊断，出生至矫正胎龄足月之间的百分位数丢失显著减少（<0.0001）。在出生时、早产儿出生后生长标准和 WHO 儿童生长标准方面实施一整套标准是一致的，出生时和随访时的百分位数之间存在相关性，因此在没有慢性或重大疾病的中晚期早产儿队列中监测生长是有效的。出生时被诊断为小于胎龄儿的婴儿更频繁地需要进行生长发育评估。
