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Published on: March 21, 2012
Does sympathetic activity contribute to growth of preterm infants?
Sari Goldstein Ferber1, Imad R Makhoul, Aron Weller
1Unit of Neurobehavioral Studies, Department of Nursing, Faculty of Social Welfare and Health Studies, University of Haifa, Mount Carmel, Haifa 31905, Israel. sarig@research.Haifa.ac.il
Insights
Higher heart rate in preterm infants, particularly in the first few days, is linked to greater weight gain. This finding suggests increased sympathetic activity may support anabolic processes in neonates.
Area of Science:
- Neonatal Physiology
- Pediatric Growth and Development
Background:
- Classical approaches to preterm infant care do not fully account for physiological indicators like heart rate.
- Emerging evidence suggests a correlation between higher heart rate and accelerated growth in preterm infants.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if heart rate (high vs. low) and early-life heart rate predict weight gain in preterm infants.
- To determine the relationship between heart rate patterns and growth trajectories in neonates.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective analysis of medical records from 90 healthy preterm infants (32-36 weeks gestation).
- Collected daily heart rate during sleep, calorie intake, and morning weight gain.
- Statistical analysis controlled for factors including birth weight, gestational age, and hospitalization length.
Main Results:
- Increased mean heart rate during hospitalization significantly predicted greater weight gain.
- Heart rate in the first three days of life showed a similar predictive pattern for weight gain.
- Infants with a mean daily heart rate of ≥140 bpm exhibited significantly higher weight gain compared to those with ≤139 bpm.
Conclusions:
- Elevated heart rate within the normal range in neonates may indicate anabolic activity, contrary to adult physiology.
- Findings suggest potential implications for developmental care and individualized stimulation strategies for preterm infants.
- Further research is warranted to explore the functional significance of heart rate in neonatal growth.
Background:
Emerging evidence on faster growth in preterm infants with higher heart rate as opposed to the classical approach calls for further research.
Aims:
to test whether (1) high or low heart rate and (2) heart rate during the first days of life predict greater weight gain in preterm infants.
Methods:
A retrospective study analyzing two daily measures of heart rate obtained during restful sleep, total daily calorie intake and daily weight gain measured always in the morning before meal were collected from the medical files.
Results:
Analysis of 90 healthy preterm infants born at 32-36 weeks of gestation revealed that increased mean heart rate during hospitalization predicted greater weight gain even when controlling for calorie intake, birth weight, gestational age, appropriateness of birth weight for gestational age, and length of hospitalization. Mean heart rate during the first three days of life yielded the same pattern of results. Post-hoc analysis of variance between infants with mean daily heart rate /=140 bpm showed that infants with higher heart rate achieved a significantly higher weight gain.
Conclusions:
It is suggested that, contrary to adults, in neonates an anabolic activity is represented by increased sympathetic functioning within the normal range. The implications of a slower growth rate for additional developmental care and individual considerations of appropriate stimulation in preterm infants are discussed.
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