Postnatal Growth Assessment of the Very-Low-Birth-Weight Preterm Infant

Preterm birth represents a nutritional emergency and a sudden dissociation of the maternal–placental–fetal unit that regulates metabolic and endocrine physiology. Growth demonstrates health and is a signal of physiological well-being. Growth is expensive for a critically ill infant and possible only...

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Main Authors: Kera McNelis, Melissa Thoene, Katie A. Huff, Ting Ting Fu, Zaineh Alja’nini, Sreekanth Viswanathan
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-02-01
Series:Children
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9067/12/2/197
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author Kera McNelis
Melissa Thoene
Katie A. Huff
Ting Ting Fu
Zaineh Alja’nini
Sreekanth Viswanathan
author_facet Kera McNelis
Melissa Thoene
Katie A. Huff
Ting Ting Fu
Zaineh Alja’nini
Sreekanth Viswanathan
author_sort Kera McNelis
collection DOAJ
description Preterm birth represents a nutritional emergency and a sudden dissociation of the maternal–placental–fetal unit that regulates metabolic and endocrine physiology. Growth demonstrates health and is a signal of physiological well-being. Growth is expensive for a critically ill infant and possible only after other homeostasis energy demands are met. Despite an expert-stated goal that preterm infants should grow at a similar rate to their gestational age-matched fetal counterparts, this is not the reality for many preterm infants. Other investigators have proposed new metrics for growth quality in the neonatal intensive care unit. This review discusses growth assessment and standards in very-low-birth-weight infants and attempts to address the knowledge gap of which growth metrics are the most important to monitor.
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publishDate 2025-02-01
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spelling doaj-art-78ec57c22cc643c594041df07674530c2025-08-20T02:44:35ZengMDPI AGChildren2227-90672025-02-0112219710.3390/children12020197Postnatal Growth Assessment of the Very-Low-Birth-Weight Preterm InfantKera McNelis0Melissa Thoene1Katie A. Huff2Ting Ting Fu3Zaineh Alja’nini4Sreekanth Viswanathan5Division of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics, Emory University, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Atlanta, GA 30322, USADepartment of Pediatrics, Division of Neonatology, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE 68198, USADivision of Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Indiana University School of Medicine, Riley Children’s Health, Indianapolis, IN 46202, USADivision of Neonatology, Perinatal Institute, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH 45229, USADivision of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics, Mercy Kids Children’s Hospital, University of Missouri School of Medicine, Springfield, MO 65212, USANemours Children’s Hospital, University of Central Florida College of Medicine, Orlando, FL 32827, USAPreterm birth represents a nutritional emergency and a sudden dissociation of the maternal–placental–fetal unit that regulates metabolic and endocrine physiology. Growth demonstrates health and is a signal of physiological well-being. Growth is expensive for a critically ill infant and possible only after other homeostasis energy demands are met. Despite an expert-stated goal that preterm infants should grow at a similar rate to their gestational age-matched fetal counterparts, this is not the reality for many preterm infants. Other investigators have proposed new metrics for growth quality in the neonatal intensive care unit. This review discusses growth assessment and standards in very-low-birth-weight infants and attempts to address the knowledge gap of which growth metrics are the most important to monitor.https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9067/12/2/197critical illnessinfantnewborninfantvery low birth weightintensive care units
spellingShingle Kera McNelis
Melissa Thoene
Katie A. Huff
Ting Ting Fu
Zaineh Alja’nini
Sreekanth Viswanathan
Postnatal Growth Assessment of the Very-Low-Birth-Weight Preterm Infant
Children
critical illness
infant
newborn
infant
very low birth weight
intensive care units
title Postnatal Growth Assessment of the Very-Low-Birth-Weight Preterm Infant
title_full Postnatal Growth Assessment of the Very-Low-Birth-Weight Preterm Infant
title_fullStr Postnatal Growth Assessment of the Very-Low-Birth-Weight Preterm Infant
title_full_unstemmed Postnatal Growth Assessment of the Very-Low-Birth-Weight Preterm Infant
title_short Postnatal Growth Assessment of the Very-Low-Birth-Weight Preterm Infant
title_sort postnatal growth assessment of the very low birth weight preterm infant
topic critical illness
infant
newborn
infant
very low birth weight
intensive care units
url https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9067/12/2/197
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AT melissathoene postnatalgrowthassessmentoftheverylowbirthweightpreterminfant
AT katieahuff postnatalgrowthassessmentoftheverylowbirthweightpreterminfant
AT tingtingfu postnatalgrowthassessmentoftheverylowbirthweightpreterminfant
AT zainehaljanini postnatalgrowthassessmentoftheverylowbirthweightpreterminfant
AT sreekanthviswanathan postnatalgrowthassessmentoftheverylowbirthweightpreterminfant