| Autor: |
Jeppesen, DL, Ersbøll, AK, Nielsen, SD, Hoppe, TU, Valerius, NH |
| Předmět: |
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| Zdroj: |
Acta Paediatrica; Oct2011, Vol. 100 Issue 10, p1319-1325, 7p |
| Abstrakt: |
Aim: To study the growth of the thymus in preterm infants. Methods: Ultrasonographic thymic size (Ti) was studied in 80 preterm infants (gestational age 24-36 weeks) from birth to discharge from the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Thirty-three of these infants were followed to 1 year of age. Results: At birth, the median Ti was 5.2 compared with 11.8 in term infants. At discharge, the median Ti was 10.0 and not significantly different from Ti in term infants at birth (p = 0.22). The size of the thymus was significantly associated with postmenstrual age and weight (both p < 0.01). Infections during admission were negatively associated with the size of the thymus (p < 0.01). During the first 3 months after discharge, preterm infants had a significantly higher frequency of infections than did term infants (p = 0.002); hereafter, the preterm infants had significantly fewer infections than term infants (p = 0.002). The median Ti in preterm infants and term infants at 1 year of age was 21.1 and 17.3, respectively. This difference was not statistically significant (p = 0.41). Conclusions: Growth of thymus was not compromised by preterm birth. Ti is negatively associated with the frequency of infections in preterm neonates submitted to NICU. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Databáze: |
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