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Equations to support predictive automated postnatal growth curves for premature infants

Journal of Perinatology volume 26, pages 354–358 (2006)Cite this article

Abstract

Growth charts are used in pediatric medicine to plot anthropomorphic measurements over time, serving as a screen for diseases related to a patient's nutritional and general health status. Whereas reference data for term infants are available from the Center for Disease Control, reference data for premature infants in a neonatal intensive care unit have not been established. Predictive curves for preterm patients, which are based on a patient's postmenstrual age and anthropomorphic measurements at birth, cannot be easily implemented with traditional paper-based methods. Preterm growth charts can be generated in an electronic health record system, but doing so requires mathematical equations or computer-readable tables. This report examines published perinatal growth curves and presents equations for predicted postnatal weight, head circumference and length in preterm infants.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported in part by 1 K22 LM08576-01 (Rosenbloom).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiology and Radiological Sciences, Medical Center North, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA

    W R Riddle

  2. Department of Pediatrics, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA

    S C DonLevy & S T Rosenbloom

  3. Department of Biomedical Informatics, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA

    X F Qi, D A Giuse & S T Rosenbloom

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  1. W R Riddle
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  2. S C DonLevy
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  3. X F Qi
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  4. D A Giuse
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  5. S T Rosenbloom
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Correspondence to W R Riddle.

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Riddle, W., DonLevy, S., Qi, X. et al. Equations to support predictive automated postnatal growth curves for premature infants. J Perinatol 26, 354–358 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.jp.7211511

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