Postnatal growth of intrauterine growth retarded infants

VILLAR, JOSÉ; BELIZÁN, JOSÉM.; SPALDING, JANA; KLEIN, ROBERT E.

EARLY HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

ELSEVIER IRELAND LTD

Año: 1982 vol. 6 p. 265 - 271

0378-3782

205 single, term newborns were followed up to their first birthdays. Each was classified as intrauterine growth retarded (IUGR) (59), or adequate birth weight (ABW) (146), and further subdivided by their individual ponderal index at birth (PI). By the end of their first year the IUGR infants had not reached the weight and length of their normal counterparts. Those with low PI obtained adequate PI values by the third month; IUGR infants with adequate PI at birth remained shorter and lighter but with adequate PI throughout the first year of life. The catch-up process in the IUGR infants with low PI can be explained by a higher growth velocity in weight, triceps and subscapular skinfolds apparent during the first trimester of postnatal life. The limitations of using PI as a tool to monitor the growth patterns of a heterogeneous group of IUGR infants are discussed. © 1982.