Comparing growth charts demonstrated significant deviations between the interpretation of postnatal growth patterns in very preterm infants

Abstract

Our findings revealed significant deviations between the interpretation of postnatal growth depending on the reference data used, with the most striking differences seen in head circumference. The choice of reference data, and particularly the conclusions drawn from the data, must be interpreted with utmost care.

One size may not fit all when it comes to growth references for preterm infants

“…This is also strongly supported by the observations by Neubauer et al. in this issue of Acta Paediatrica .…”

“…The growth reference that is chosen for clinical use is important, as shown by the Neubauer et al. paper in this issue.…”

“…Neubauer et al. evaluated the postnatal growth of 551 very preterm Austrian infants by using four different growth references intended for international use to convert their length, weight and head circumference measurements at birth, discharge and at the corrected ages of three, 12 and 24 months, into standard deviation Z ‐scores. The results of the study were confusing and depending on the reference that they used, the interpretation of the postnatal growth of preterm infants seemed completely different.…”

Poor postdischarge head growth is related to a 10% lower intelligence quotient in very preterm infants at the chronological age of five years

“…The only other study that investigated the association between the postnatal head growth of preterm infants <30 weeks and cognitive outcomes at the age of five years used these growth charts and reported that postnatal head growth was extremely poor and deteriorated with increasing age . The implications of the choice of growth chart for monitoring postnatal growth in very preterm infants have been discussed in another paper by our group .…”

MANAGEMENT OF ENDOCRINE DISEASE: Growth and growth hormone therapy in short children born preterm

“…The intrauterine growth charts are based on measurements of infants with different GA, the fetal growth charts are constructed with fetal measurements obtained by ultrasound and the postnatal growth curves are constructed with measurements of infants during the hospitalization period. Significant differences are observed between these reference charts for evaluation of postnatal growth, especially with regard to head circumference (HC) (14).…”