Effects of gestation and birth weight on the growth and development of very low birthweight small for gestational age infants: a matched group comparison.

Aims: To investigate the effects of small for gestational age (SGA) in very low birthweight (VLBW) infants on growth and development until the fifth year of life.

Methods: VLBW (< 1500 g) infants, selected from a prospective study, were classified as SGA (n = 115) on the basis of birth weight below the 10th percentile for gestational age and were compared with two groups of appropriate for gestational age (AGA) infants matched according to birth weight (AGA-BW; n = 115) or gestation at birth (AGA-GA; n = 115). Prenatal, perinatal, and postnatal risk factors were recorded, and duration and intensity of treatment were computed from daily assessments.

An epidemiologic longitudinal study of sleeping problems and feeding experience of preterm and term children in southern Finland: comparison with a southern German population sample.

Objective: To determine the influence of breast-feeding on the prevalence and persistence of sleeping problems in southern Finland (SF) and southern Germany (SG).

Design: Prospective binational population study of infants admitted to special care units (SCUs) in geographically defined areas in SF and SG.

Subjects: In SF, the number of SCU infants was 1057 (very preterm, 47; preterm, 258; term, 752); 485 term infants were control subjects.

The incidence of sleeping problems in preterm and fullterm infants discharged from neonatal special care units: an epidemiological longitudinal study.

Anecdotal reports have suggested that sleeping problems are a frequent complaint from parents of preterm infants. This prospective epidemiological study examined the incidence and stability of sleeping problems of very preterm (< 32 weeks gestation at birth), preterm (32-36 weeks gestation) and fullterm infants, all admitted to special care baby units (SCBU) after birth, in comparison to healthy term infants over the first 5 years of life. Preterm infants were found to have fewer and shorter night-wakings at 5 months.

The cognitive outcome of very preterm infants may be poorer than often reported: an empirical investigation of how methodological issues make a big difference.

The effects of relying on outmoded IQ-test norms and the use of arbitrary classifications of developmental delay on estimates of cognitive impairment of very preterm infants (VPI) was evaluated in a prospective population study. Cognitive assessments included the Griffiths test at 5 and 20 months and the Columbia Mental Maturity Scales (CMM) and a vocabulary test (Aktiver Wortschatz Test, AWST) at 56 months of age. Rates of cognitive impairment of 321 very preterm infants (VPI; < 32 weeks gestation or < 1500 g birth weight) were determined according to the published test norms, to scores of a full-term control group (FC n = 321), and to scores from a representative sample of children (NC n = 431) of the same birth cohort.

[Incidence and persistence of problems at sleep onset and sleep continuation in the preschool period: results of a prospective study of a representative sample in Bavaria].

The prevalence and persistence of sleeping problems was studied in a prospective investigation of a representative sample of 432 German children at the ages of 5, 20 and 56 months. 21.5% of children had night waking problems at 5 months, 21.

Atypical phenylketonuria due to biopterin deficiency. Early treatment with tetrahydrobiopterin and neurotransmitter precursors, trials of monotherapy.

This report presents the first case where an infant with tetrahydrobiopterin deficiency has been identified by screening of newborns with hyperphenylalaninemia for tetrahydrobiopterin deficiency. Therapy with L-Dopa, 5-hydroxytryptophan, Carbidopa and tetrahydrobiopterin was started at the age of seven weeks while the child received a normal diet. At that time already muscular hypotonia was observed.