Abstract
Background:
Cardiothoracic (CT) ratio is a common measurement used to assess heart size in chest radiographs of pediatric patients, but no recent studies have analyzed the standards for CT ratios in very low birth weight (VLBW) infants.
Objective:
The aim of this study was to provide improved standards for CT ratios measured from chest radiographs of VLBW (<1500?g) infants, and to compare CT ratios between small for gestational age (SGA) and appropriate for gestational age (AGA) infants in this population.
Design/methods:
Among VLBW infants admitted to the Jacobi Medical Center NICU from 2002 to 2004, CT ratios were calculated from anteroposterior supine chest radiographs taken of 54 VLBW infants (18 SGA and 36 AGA group-matched on the basis of birthweight and sex) during the first 24?h of life.
Results:
There were no significant differences between the two groups with respect to birthweight, sex, 1-min Apgar score, 5-min Apgar score, intubation status and degree of inspiration. Median GA of the SGA infants was significantly greater than the AGA infants (30 and 27 weeks, respectively; P<0.001). CT ratios among SGA infants were significantly larger than those among AGAs. Using the widest internal width of the bony thorax, the mean CT ratio among SGA and AGA infants was 0.523 and 0.479, respectively (P=0.00102).
Conclusions:
VLBW SGA infants have larger CT ratios than VLBW AGA infants, suggesting that existing standards for normal CT ratios may be inappropriate for use among SGA infants.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 print issues and online access
$259.00 per year
only $21.58 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Edwards DK, Higgins CB, Gilpin EA . The cardiothoracic ratio in newborn infants. Am J Roentgenol 1981; 136: 907–913.
Bozynski MEA, Hanafy FH, Hernandez RJ . Association of increased cardiothoracic ratio and intrauterine growth retardation. Am J Perinatol 1991; 8: 28–30.
Hill LM, Guzick D, Peterson C, DiNofrio D, Maloney J, Nedzeksy P . Fetal heart circumference as a predictor of menstrual age in fetuses affected by disturbances in growth. Am J Obstet Gynecol 1993; 168: 347–351.
Veille JC, Hanson R, Sivakoff M, Hoen H, Ben-Ami M . Fetal cardiac size in normal, intrauterine growth retarded, and diabetic pregnancies. Am J Perinatol 1993; 10: 275–279.
Miyague NI, Ghidini A . Effect of fetal growth restriction on ultrasonographically measured cardiac size. Early Hum Dev 1997; 48: 93–98.
Battaglia FC, Lubchenco LO . A practical classification of newborn infants by weight and gestational age. J Pediatr 1967; 71: 159–163.
Leipala JA, Boldt T, Turpeinen U, Vuolteenaho O, Fellman V . Cardiac hypertrophy and altered hemodynamic adaptation in growth-restricted preterm infants. Pediatr Res 2003; 53: 989–993.
Vonnahme KA, Hess BW, Hansen TR, McCormick RJ, Rule DC, Moss GE et al. Maternal undernutrition from early- to mid-gestation leads to growth retardation, cardiac ventricular hypertrophy, and increased liver weight in the fetal sheep. Biol Reprod 2003; 69: 133–140.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Wozniak, L., Hussain, S., Goldman, H. et al. The cardiothoracic ratio in AGA and SGA very low birth weight newborn infants. J Perinatol 26, 769–771 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.jp.7211605
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.jp.7211605
