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[Evaluation of urinary calcium/creatinine ratio in premature and full-term newborn infants]
M P Lavocat1, V Breant, F Durr
1Service de pédiatrie, hôpital Nord, Saint-Etienne, France.
Insights
The urinary calcium/creatinine ratio (U Ca/creat) is not a reliable neonatal screening tool due to wide value ranges. Preterm infants show higher U Ca/creat, but this difference may be linked to vitamin D levels.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Neonatology
- Clinical Chemistry
Abstract:
Urinary calcium/creatinine ratio (U Ca/creat) was studied in infants, term and preterm newborn babies. In 31 1.5-24 months old healthy infants, the median U Ca/creat was 0.16 mmol/mmol (range 0.013-1.17) and was similar to the value obtained in children older than 4 years. In 55 healthy full-term newborns studied in the first week of life, the median U Ca/creat was 0.12 mmol/mmol. However the range of values was extremely wide (0.0006-4.75), suggesting that the U Ca/creat ratio is of little interest to screen for hypercalciuria during the neonatal period. In 31 premature newborns, the median U Ca/creat was 1.08 mmol/mmol, a value significantly higher than in the two other groups (P < 0.001); as in the term newborns there was a very wide range of values (0.057-6.83). However after excluding the premature babies with elevated serum 25 OHD level, this difference was not statistically significant.