ESPE Abstracts

Background: Very Low birthweight (LBW) is defined as birthweight below 1.5 kg) and compared to AGA they are reported to be at a higher risk to develop slow postnatal growth outcomes.

Objectives: To describe the postnatal growth of 120 VLBW newborns who had birth weight < 1.5 kg. linear growth trajectories of VLBW infants were compared with normal infants (WHO curves) during the first 24 months of life.

Methods: All LBW infants born during the year 2019 were included in the study. A total of 120 LBW infants were included and their length, length for age z-score (LAZ) score, weight for age (WAZ), and head circumference SDS (HCZ) were followed for 24 months.

Results: Postnatal growth of VLBW infants showed the following: Both WAZ, LAZ and HCZ steadily and progressively increased during the postnatal 24 months. The WLZ remained normal between -0.2 and 0.2 during the same period. Among the VLBW infants, 95% showed catch-up growth for LAZ and WAZ > 0.67 SD at 6 months of age. At 6 months age, 44% had WAZ < -2 and 68% had LAZ < -2. At 18 months 11% had WAZ < -2 and 33% had LAZ < -2. By the age of 2 years 12.3% had WAZ <-2 and 7.5% had LAZ <-2 (table 1).

Conclusion: The majority of VLBW infants (<1.5 kg) had significant catch up in LAZ, WAZ and HCZ during the first 6 months of life. By the age of 2 years only 7.5% of them had LAZ <-2 and 12.5 % remained underweight (WAZ < -2).