All issues > Volume 35(12); 1992

Erratum

J Korean Pediatr Soc. 1992;35:0. Published online December 15, 1992.

Measurement of Bone Mineral Density in Korean Newborns by Dual Photon Absorptiometry

Kook In KI Park¹, Chul C Lee¹, Ran R Namgung¹, Duk Hi DH Kim¹, Dong Gwan DG Han¹

¹Department of Pediatrics, College of Medicine, Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea

Abstract

Bone mineral density (BMD), bone mineral content (BMC) and bone width (BW) of lumbar spine was measured in 37 term and 38 preterm appropriate-for-gestational-age (AGA) infants and 22 term small-for-gestational-age (SGA) infants who were delivered at Yonsei University Severance Hospital from January to September 1991 using dual photon absorptiometry (DPA). All of the infants were studied once within three days after tirth (considered hereafter as "at birth") and premature infants were remeasured at 2, 4, 8 and 12 weeks postnatal age, respectively. The following results were obtained; 1) There was no significant difference in BMD, BMC and BW at birth between male and female term AGA infants. 2) In term and preterm AGA infants, BMD, BMC and BW at birth correlated significantly with gestational age, birth weight, height and head circumference and multiple regression analysis revealed that birth weight was most significant variable. 3) For preterm AGA infants (especially 33-34 weeks gestational age), BMC did not differ and remained relatively unchanged during the first 12 weeks of life, lagging significantly behind the intrauterine rate as defined by measuring BMC in 75 preterm and term infants at birth. BW did increase significantly and showed no difference compared to the intrauterine rate. BMD decreased significantly during the same period and remained significantly delayed compared to the intrauterine rate. 4) At birth, term SGA infants had lower BMD, BMC and BW than term AGA infants. From these results, we reported the normal range of BMD, BMC and BW of lumbar spine using DPA in Korean newborns and clearly documented a decrease in BMD and BMC compared to the intrauterine rate despite skeletal growth in preterm infants. So, bone densitometry should be used to diagnose the metabolic bone disease of newborn and to evaluate the effectiveness of commercial formulas and formula supplements in promoting skeletal mineralization in newborn infants.

Keywords :8 and 12 weeks postnatal age