ESPE Abstracts

Background: Vitamin D is a steroid hormone which contributes to the maintenance of calcium homeostasis and bone mineralization. As bone mineral accretion occurs mostly during the third trimester of pregnancy, mineral storages are deficient especially in the extremely low birth weight (ELBW <1000g) preterm infants at birth. Recent studies suggest that ELBW is a risk factor for compromised bone mineral density at adulthood, but the role of neonatal morbidity ...