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Decreased bone ultrasound velocity in large-for-gestational-age infants
Yoav Littner1, Dror Mandel, Francis B Mimouni
1Department of Neonatology, Lis Maternity Hospital, Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Tel Aviv, Israel.
Insights
Large for gestational age infants born to non-diabetic mothers show reduced bone speed of sound, indicating lower bone quality. This finding highlights potential risks for bone health in these newborns.
Area of Science:
- Neonatal physiology
- Pediatric bone health
- Biomedical engineering
Background:
- Bone speed of sound (SOS) quantifies bone fragility.
- Limited data exists on bone mineral content in large for gestational age (LGA) infants, especially those born to non-diabetic mothers.
- No prior studies have reported bone SOS in LGA infants of non-diabetic mothers.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate bone speed of sound in large for gestational age infants of non-diabetic mothers.
- To test the hypothesis that these infants have lower bone speed of sound compared to appropriate for gestational age infants.
Main Methods:
- Bone speed of sound was measured in 25 singleton LGA infants of non-diabetic mothers.
- Measurements were taken within 96 hours of birth at the right tibial midshaft.
- A comparison group of appropriate for gestational age infants was used as controls.
Main Results:
- Bone speed of sound was found to be lower in LGA infants of non-diabetic mothers compared to controls.
- This suggests a potential difference in bone quality in this specific neonatal population.
Conclusions:
- Large for gestational age infants born to non-diabetic mothers exhibit lower bone speed of sound.
- This finding indicates potentially reduced bone quality in these infants, warranting further investigation.
Background:
Bone speed of sound is a measure of bone breakability. There are few reports on bone mineral content in large for gestational age infants; most of them in infants of diabetic mothers. There are no data on bone speed of sound in large for gestational age infants of nondiabetic mothers.
Objective:
To test the hypothesis that large for gestational age infants of nondiabetic mothers have lower bone speed of sound than appropriate for gestational age infants.
Design/Methods:
Bone speed of sound was measured within the first 96 hours of life at the right tibial midshaft in 25 singleton large for gestational age infants of non diabetic mothers and compared to appropriate for gestational age controls.
Results:
Bone speed of sound measured in large for gestational age infants of nondiabetic mothers was lower than in controls.
Conclusions:
Large for gestational age infants of nondiabetic mothers have lower bone speed of sound than controls.
