"LATE EDEMA" IN LOW BIRTH WEIGHT INFANTS
Paul Y. K. Wu M.B., B.S.1,
William Oh M.D.1,
Alberto Lubetkin M.D.1,
Jack Metcoff M.D.1,
Marjorie Gabler R.N.1, and
Mary Vaughn R.N.1
1 Department of Pediatrics, Michael Reese Hospital and Medical Center and Chicago Medical School, Chicago
Twenty 48-hour balance studies were performed on six low birth weight infants with late edema and on four control infants. Each infant had two balance studies: one on a regular milk formula and another on a lower sodium and potassium milk preparation. The urinary outgo of sodium. potassium, nitrogen, and water was similar in both groups of infants, irrespective of the type of milk intake. The internal distribution of electrolyte and water was calculated from the balance data. In the control infants, the retained water and sodium was distributed between the intracellular and extracellular phases. In infants with late edema, the expansion of the extracellular water and sodium was equivalent to the sum of the net retention, plus an internal shift of water and sodium from the non-extracellular or intracellular phases into the extracellular phase.
Submitted on July 1, 1966
Accepted on August 16, 1967
