Effect of phototherapy on growth of low-birth-weight infants--two-year follow-up.

The effect of phototherapy on subsequent growth of low-birth-weight infants has been evaluated at two-year follow-up of infants from two separate controlled neonatal studies. Growth of weight, length, and head circumference in the treated infants of Group I was slower than that of control subjects. Growth was comparable in treated infants and control subjects in Group II, and the two control groups, although not concurrent were also similar. Infants whose heads were growing at a normal rate, even though below 2 SD from the norms, were developing normally. Only infants who had deceleration in rate of head growth were abnormal. It is unlikely that phototherapy was responsible for the slow growth patterns seen in Group I, since these patterns were not reproducible in Group II.