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Short children born prematurely: data from KIGS
Margaret C S Boguszewski1, Hanna Karlsson, Patrick Wilton
1Pediatric Endocrinology Unit, Department of Pediatrics, Federal University of Paraná, Curitiba, Brazil. margabogus@uol.com.br
Insights
Children born prematurely who experience growth failure may benefit from growth hormone (GH) therapy. The Pfizer International Growth Database (KIGS) tracks growth responses in these young patients.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Endocrinology
- Neonatology
Background:
- Neonatal care advances improve survival for extremely preterm infants.
- Some premature infants experience growth failure and short stature.
- Growth hormone (GH) therapy is a potential treatment for these children.
Purpose of the Study:
- To gather data on premature children receiving GH therapy.
- To analyze information from the Pfizer International Growth Database (KIGS).
Main Methods:
- KIGS database queried for prepubertal short children (height <-2 SDS).
- Inclusion criteria: gestational age <37 weeks and available birth weight.
- Patients classified by gestational age (preterm, very preterm) and birth weight (AGA, SGA).
Main Results:
- 3,215 patients were analyzed.
- Subgroups included preterm AGA (1,928), very preterm AGA (629), preterm SGA (519), and very preterm SGA (139).
Conclusions:
- KIGS database facilitates evaluation of GH therapy effects.
- Growth response can be assessed in premature children with varying characteristics.
- Database supports research on growth patterns and GH therapy in preterm populations.
Background:
Advances in neonatal care have enabled the survival of extremely preterm infants. Some of them have growth failure and remain short at later ages. As a consequence, children born prematurely may be candidates for growth hormone (GH) treatment.
Aims:
The goal of this study was to obtain information about children on GH therapy enrolled in the Pfizer International Growth Database (KIGS) who were born prematurely.
Patients:
The KIGS database was queried for data on prepubertal short children (height <-2 standard deviation score; SDS) born with gestational age below 37 weeks. Birth weight had to be available.
Results:
In total, 3,215 patients were selected and classified according to gestational age and birth weight as preterm (<37 weeks' gestation), very preterm (VP; <33 weeks' gestation), appropriate for gestational age (AGA; birth weight between -2 and +2 SDS) or small for gestational age (SGA; birth weight <-2 SDS). Of these, 1,928 children were preterm AGA, 629 very preterm AGA, 519 preterm SGA, and 139 very preterm SGA.
Conclusions:
KIGS is a cumulative database and provides a unique opportunity to evaluate the growth response to GH therapy of premature children born with differences in gestational ages, size at birth, rate of postnatal growth, and GH secretion status.
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