Body water content of extremely preterm infants at birth
Gary Hartnolla, Pierre Bétrémieuxb, Neena Modic
a University Hospital
Lewisham, London SE13 6LH, UK, b Service de Réanimation Pédiatrique, Rennes,
France, c Division of
Paediatrics and Neonatal Medicine, Imperial College School of Medicine,
Hammersmith Hospital, Du Cane Road, London W12 0NN, UK
Correspondence to: Dr Modi email: nmodi{at}ic.ac.uk
Accepted 21 February
2000
BACKGROUND
Preterm
birth is often associated with impaired growth. Small for gestational
age status confers additional risk.
AIMTo determine the
body water content of appropriately grown (AGA) and small for
gestational age (SGA) preterm infants in order to provide a baseline
for longitudinal studies of growth after preterm birth.
METHODSAll infants
born at the Hammersmith and Queen Charlotte's Hospitals between 25 and
30 weeks gestational age were eligible for entry into the study.
Informed parental consent was obtained as soon after delivery as
possible, after which the extracellular fluid content was determined by
bromide dilution and total body water by H218O dilution.
RESULTSForty two
preterm infants were studied. SGA infants had a significantly higher
body water content than AGA infants (906 (833-954) and 844 (637-958)
ml/kg respectively; median (range); p = 0.019). There were no
differences in extracellular and intracellular fluid volumes, nor in
the ratio of extracellular to intracellular fluid. Estimates of
relative adiposity suggest a body fat content of about 7% in AGA
infants, assuming negligible fat content in SGA infants and lean body
tissue hydration to be equivalent in the two groups.
CONCLUSIONSNovel
values for the body water composition of the SGA preterm infant at
25-30 weeks gestation are presented. The data do not support the view
that SGA infants have extracellular dehydration, nor is their
regulation of body water impaired.
Keywords: body composition; water compartments; growth restriction; newborn; preterm; dehydration
© 2000 by Archives of Disease in Childhood
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