Abstract
125 critically ill premature infants with depressed blood T4 levels during the first postnatal week (mean ± SEM 3.28 ± .13 mcg/dl) which normalized by 2-3 weeks of age (6.5±.34 mcg/dl) were included in the study. Initial blood T4 levels correlated positively with birthweight (r=0.51) and gestational age (r=0.49) and negatively with a clinical score which took into account the incidence of respiratory distress syndrome, sepsis, necrotizing enterocolitis, intraventricular hemorrhage, the length of hospitalization and the duration of mechanical ventilation (r=-0.51, p < 0.05). No significant correlations were seen between initial and repeated T4 levels and 1 and 5 minute Apgar scores. The effect of feedings on repeated T4 levels was studied on a subsample of infants who were free of acute illness and receiving 3 different feeding regimens: 100% of total calories as hyperalimentation (n=24), greater than 50% of total calories as formula (n=22), and greater than 50% of total calories as preterm human milk (n=7). T4 levels in these 3 groups were respectively 5.4 ± 0.8, 6.95 ± 0.6 and 9.4 ± 0.4 mcg/dl (p < 0.05). A positive correlation between intake of human milk varying from 10% to 100% and repeated T4 levels was also observed in 15 infants (r=0.64). This study demonstrates that the degree of prematurity, the presence of acute illness and the type of feeding can have an adverse effect on blood T4 levels and should be considered when assessing thyroid function in premature neonates. Our data suggests that thyroid hormone related components in preterm human milk contribute to the thyroid economy in premature infants.
Article PDF
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Pereira, G., Oberkotter, L., Paul, M. et al. THE EFFECT OF GESTATIONAL AGE, ACUTE ILLNESS AND TYPE OF FEEDINGS ON THYROID HORMONE (T4) LEVELS IN PREMATURE INFANTS. Pediatr Res 18 (Suppl 4), 339 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198404001-01478
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198404001-01478