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Published on: August 25, 2014
Growth, head growth, and neurocognitive outcome in children born very preterm: methodological aspects and selected
Michael B Ranke1, Ingeborg Krägeloh-Mann, Brigitte Vollmer
1University Children's Hospital, Tübingen, Germany.
Insights
Long-term growth, especially head growth, in very preterm children is linked to neurocognitive outcomes. This review discusses anthropometry and its role in understanding development in these vulnerable children.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Neonatology
- Developmental Neuroscience
Background:
- Increasing survival rates of very preterm infants necessitate understanding their long-term health.
- Focus on growth, metabolic status, and neurocognitive development is crucial for this population.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the complexities of longitudinal anthropometry in very preterm children.
- To examine the relationship between growth (particularly head growth) and neurocognitive outcomes around school age.
Main Methods:
- Review of existing literature on longitudinal anthropometry in very preterm infants.
- Analysis of studies correlating growth parameters with neurocognitive assessments.
Main Results:
- Longitudinal anthropometry is essential for monitoring development in very preterm children.
- Head growth is a significant factor associated with neurocognitive outcomes in this cohort.
Conclusions:
- Rigorous clinical assessments like anthropometry are vital for identifying developmental issues.
- Understanding growth patterns can inform preventative strategies and improve long-term outcomes for very preterm children.
Abstract:
In light of the growing number of surviving children born very preterm, there is an increasing focus on their long-term outcomes in terms of growth, metabolic status, and neurocognitive development. Therefore, it is of importance to follow such children from birth onwards with the aim of identifying the causes of atypical development, developing preventative measures, and improving outcomes. Since such long-term follow-up needs to be conducted with the least possible burden, clinical investigations such as anthropometry and neurocognitive tests, if conducted rigorously, will continue to have a predominant role. The aim of this review is to discuss the complexity of longitudinal anthropometry in children born very preterm and to provide an overview of the main studies that have examined associations between growth, in particular head growth, and neurocognitive outcomes at around school age.
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