Indicators of Growth, Nutritional Status and Comorbide Disorders of Newborns With Down Syndrome

Overview

Objective To access predictive values of the auxological parameters and indexes for risk of comorbid malformations in newborns with Down syndrome (DS) Study design In this cohort retrospective study, 141 newborns with proven trisomy 21 born at the Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics of the University of Split Hospital (1990 to 2015) were included. The data were obtained from the medical histories of mothers, infants and the delivery protocol. The objective was to access predictive values of the auxological parameters and indexes for risk of comorbid malformations in newborns with Down syndrome (DS) Conclusion Higher CI were found in hyportrophic (SGA) newborns with DS and indicated their intrauterine growth restriction with brain sparing and increased further risk of severe psychomotor retardation. The SGA newborns have lower parameters and indexes of nutritive status and significantly differed from eutrophic and hypertrophic newborns. These SGA newborns with DS have increased developmental risks and that requires further diagnostic attention.

Use of anthropometric charts developed specifically for children with DS have a better expression of real growth restriction (small for gestation age/SGA, 9.9%) than the application of the percentile curve for typical children (SGA, 24.1%). These differences were also noted in the evaluation of other anthropometric measures. Cephalization index (CI) proved to be the only predictor from the considered auxological parameters and indexes with minimal predictive value in the prediction of heart defects type ASD II and VSD. The presence of comorbid disorders in newborns with DS did not have a significant predictive role on growth indicators and nutritive status of the newborn, but we noted a strong association between preterm births and white matter injury (WMI).

Conditions