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[Mineral bone content in full-term infants. Effect of anthropometric characteristics]
Insights
Bone mineral content (BMC) in newborns is best compared within similar weight and bone width groups. Birth season and sex do not significantly impact infant bone mineralization at birth.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Neonatology
- Bone Mineralization
Context:
- Accurate interpretation of bone mineral content (BMC) in term infants requires narrow normative ranges.
- Previous studies lacked control over variables influencing BMC at birth.
Purpose:
- To establish normative data for BMC in term infants by controlling for variables affecting it at birth.
- To identify factors influencing BMC, including growth parameters, birth season, and maternal vitamin D status.
Summary:
- BMC in term infants averaged 92.2 +/- 14.6 mg/cm at birth.
- BMC correlated significantly with bone width (BW) and body weight, but not skeletal length, crown length, or gestational age.
- Birth season and sex did not demonstrate a significant effect on infant BMC.
Impact:
- Findings suggest that comparisons of infant BMC should be made between populations with similar body weight and bone width.
- This study provides a basis for more accurate assessment of bone health in newborns.
Abstract:
The clinical importance of the measurement of bone mineral content (BMC) in fullterm infants by photon absorptiometry relies on a comparatively narrow normative range that is necessary requisite to interpret the data from a single child. In the attempt to reduce the artifactual scattering of data, it was undertaken a normative study to control all variables that might affect BMC at birth. Thus, growth parameters and birth season (as an index of maternal vit. D status) were related to BMC, Bone Width (BW) and the considered growth parameters did not show any significant difference related to sex and birth season. Thus, all data were analyzed together. It appears that BMC at birth in fullterm infants averaged 92.2 +/- 14.6 mg/cm. BMC did not correlate with skeletal length, crown length and gestational age in the considered range. Conversely, significant correlation were found between BMC and BW and between BMC and body weight. We conclude that: a) birth season and sex do not affect bone mineralization in fullterm infants, b) any comparison among BMC should be established within populations homogeneous for weight and BW.