Department of Anatomy, Histology and Anthropology, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Vilnius University, M.K. Ciurlionio str. 21, Vilnius, Lithuania.
UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, London, UK.
Sci Rep. 2022 Jun 30;12(1):11057. doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-15128-3.
Neonatal head circumference (HC) not only represents the brain size of Homo sapiens, but is also an important health risk indicator. Addressing a lack of comparative studies on head size and its variability in term and preterm neonates from different populations, we aimed to examine neonatal HC by gestation according to a regional reference and a global standard. Retrospective analysis of data on neonatal HC obtained from the Lithuanian Medical Birth Register from 2001 to 2015 (423 999 newborns of 24-42 gestational weeks). The varying distribution by gestation and sex was estimated using GAMLSS, and the results were compared with the INTERGROWTH-21st standard. Mean HC increased with gestation in both sexes, while its fractional variability fell. The 3rd percentile matched that for INTERGROWTH-21st at all gestations, while the 50th and 97th percentiles were similar up to 27 weeks, but a full channel width higher than INTERGROWTH-21st at term. INTERGROWTH-21st facilitates the evaluation of neonatal HC in early gestations, while in later gestations, the specific features of neonatal HC of a particular population tend to be more precisely represented by regional references.
新生儿头围（HC）不仅代表人类的大脑大小，还是重要的健康风险指标。为了研究不同人群足月和早产儿的头围大小及其变异性缺乏比较研究，我们旨在根据区域参考标准和全球标准，按胎龄检查新生儿 HC。对 2001 年至 2015 年期间立陶宛医疗出生登记处（423999 名 24-42 周胎龄的新生儿）获得的新生儿 HC 数据进行回顾性分析。使用 GAMLSS 估计胎龄和性别之间的变化分布，并将结果与 INTERGROWTH-21st 标准进行比较。男女两性的 HC 均随胎龄增加而增加，但其分数变异性下降。第 3 个百分位数与 INTERGROWTH-21st 标准在所有胎龄中相匹配，而第 50 个和第 97 个百分位数在 27 周前相似，但在足月时比 INTERGROWTH-21st 标准高整整一个通道宽度。INTERGROWTH-21st 有助于评估早期胎龄的新生儿 HC，而在后期胎龄中，特定人群的新生儿 HC 特征往往更能通过区域参考标准更精确地表示。
