Postnatal growth of infants born < 2.5 kg: small for gestational age (SGA) vs appropriate for gestational age (AGA)

Fawzia Alyafei; Ashraf Soliman; Doaa AlYousef; Mona Shaat; Maya Itani; Hamdy Ali; Nada Alaaraj; Noor Hamed; Shayma Ahmed

We studied anthropometric measures (z scores) from birth to 2 years in 115 infants who were born with birth weight <2.5 kg but > 1.5 kg. They were divided into two groups based on Fenton's preterm growth standards at birth. Group 1 (AGA) with weight z score (WAZ) > -2 (n = 100), and group 2 (SGA) with WAZ < -2 (n = 15). Postnatal growth data were evaluated based on the WHO growth standard without correction for prematurity.

Results: The gestational age (GA) was 32.2 +/- 2.5 weeks for the AGA group and 36.5 +/- 2.5 weeks for the SGA group. AGA infants had a progressive gain in WAZ during the first 18 months (from -3.15 to -0.0). This was followed by stable WAZ thereafter. SGA infants had a progressive gain in WAZ (from -2.8 to -0.75) during the first 3 years of life and were still catching up during the 3rd year. At the end of the second and 3^rd years, SGA infants had lower WAZ compared to AGA infants. AGA infants had a progressive gain in LAZ during the first 24 months (from -3.5 to -0.17). This was followed by stable LAZ thereafter. SGA had a progressive gain in LAZ during the first 3 years of life (from -2.7 to -0.45) and was still catching up during the 3rd year of life. At the end of the second year, they were significantly shorter than AGA infants. In the 2^nd year, the SGA group had a significantly smaller head size (HCZ) compared to the AGA group.


WAZ		2 mon	4 mon	6 mon	12 mon	18 mon	24 mon	3 years
AGA	Mean	-3.15	-1.84	-1.27	-0.43	0.00	-0.24	-0.20
n = 100	SD	1.11	1.13	1.24	1.21	9.01	1.29	1.35
SGA	Mean	-2.82	-2.35	-2.00	-1.87	-1.59	-1.06	-0.74
n = 15	SD	1.54	1.79	2.14	2.16	3.01	0.94	0.89
LAZ		2mon	4 mon	6 mon	12 mon	18 mon	24mon	3 years
AGA	Mean	-3.50	-2.43	-1.78	-1.06	-0.65	-0.17	-0.26
n = 100	SD	1.35	1.21	1.23	1.24	11.27	2.03	1.21
SGA	Mean	-2.71	-2.49	-2.01	-1.53	-1.20	-0.78	-0.45
n = 15	SD	1.05	1.51	2.11	2.11	2.50	0.53	0.40

In conclusion: Infants born <2.5 kg classified as AGA and SGA showed different patterns of postnatal growth in WAZ, LAZ, and HCZ. At the end of the 3rd year, SGA infants were lighter but not shorter compared to the AGA group.

ESPE Abstracts

P1-133