PEDIATRICS Vol. 88 No. 3 September 1991, pp. 542-546
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow E-mail this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My File Cabinet
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via CrossRef
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Sanders, M.
Right arrow Articles by Repka, M. X.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Sanders, M.
Right arrow Articles by Repka, M. X.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Facebook   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?

Gestational Age Assessment in Preterm Neonates Weighing Less than 1500 Grams

Marilyn Sanders MD1, Marilee Allen MD1, Greg R. Alexander MPH, ScD2, Jerome Yankowitz MD1, Janet Graeber MD1, Timothy R.B. Johnson MD1, and Michael X. Repka MD1

1 The Departments of Pediatrics, Maternal-Fetal Medicine, and Ophthalmology, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland
2 The Maternal and Child Health Program, Division of Human Development and Nutrition, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis

Postnatal assessment of gestational age in preterm neonates traditionally has been performed using the methods of Dubowitz and Ballard. This study was designed to determine the accuracy of these methods in a sample of very low birth weight preterm neonates. Dubowitz and Ballard examinations were done on 110 preterm neonates within the first 72 hours of life by a neonatologist masked to the gestational age assessed antenatally. Mean birth weight was 1066 ± 256 g (SD). These data were compared with gestational age assessments using last menstrual period and best obstetric estimate calculated by an obstetrician unaware of the neonatal examination. Mean gestational age using last menstrual period was 28.3±2.9 weeks. Mean differences between last menstrual period and Dubowitz/Ballard were -2.8±2.1 weeks and -2.6±2.2 weeks, respectively. Results using best obstetric estimate were similar. An ophthalmologist examined lens vessels of 89 neonates. A similar pattern toward overestimation of gestational age interval by Dubowitz/Ballard was seen at each lens vessel grade. The Dubowitz and Ballard examinations are inaccurate methods of assessing gestational age in preterm neonates with birth weights less than 1500 g.

Key Words: gestational age assessment • low birth weight • lens vessel assessment • preterm neonate

Submitted on January 29, 1990
Accepted on August 22, 1990


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Facebook Facebook   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 PediatricsHome page
N. Hussain, J. Clive, and V. Bhandari
Current Incidence of Retinopathy of Prematurity, 1989-1997
Pediatrics, September 1, 1999; 104 (3): e26 - e26.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 PediatricsHome page
T. M. O'Shea, K. L. Klinepeter, D. J. Goldstein, B. W. Jackson, and R. G. Dillard
Survival and Developmental Disability in Infants With Birth Weights of 501 to 800 Grams, Born Between 1979 and 1994
Pediatrics, December 1, 1997; 100(6): 982 - 986.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Arch. Dis. Child. Fetal Neonatal Ed.Home page
U. Wariyar, W. Tin, and E. Hey
Gestational assessment assessed
Arch. Dis. Child. Fetal Neonatal Ed., November 1, 1997; 77(3): 216F - 220.
[Abstract] [Full Text]

Home page
 NEJMHome page
M. C. Allen, P. K. Donohue, and A. E. Dusman
The Limit of Viability -- Neonatal Outcome of Infants Born at 22 to 25 Weeks' Gestation
N. Engl. J. Med., November 25, 1993; 329(22): 1597 - 1601.
[Abstract] [Full Text]