Abstract
Extract: Skin reflectance in red, green, and blue light was measured at the sternum of 99 Caucasian infants ranging in gestational age from 26 to 44 weeks. Skin reflectance was consistently higher in female infants, but this difference was not statistically significant. Highly significant (P < 0.001) increases in reflectance at all wave lengths were found when sternal reflectance during the first 48 hr of life was related to gestational age. The dispersion of data points about the regression line does not permit this method to be relied upon as the sole means of determining gestational age of infants. Serial studies indicate that reflectance increases in premature infants not given phototherapy, whereas premature infants receiving photo-therapy show a fall in reflectance for the duration of therapy. This suggests that phototherapy may cause tanning of the skin.
Speculation: Reflectance spectrometry provides a safe, noninvasive method to assess human newborn skin maturation and may also be a means to determine effects of various therapeutic regimens on the skin.
Similar content being viewed by others
Article PDF
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Krauss, A., Post, P., Waldman, S. et al. Skin Reflectance in the Newborn Infant. Pediatr Res 10, 776–778 (1976). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-197609000-00002
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-197609000-00002
Keywords
This article is cited by
-
Transcutaneous bilirubinometry in the newborn infant: State of the art
Journal of Clinical Monitoring (1986)