and the quality of their later life. Postnatal growth restriction in infants with VLBW
and ELBW is a significant worldwide problem as the optimal body weight gain (15
g/kg/day) and head circumference (0.9 cm/week) ensure not only normal postnatal
growth (within the limits of 10-90 percentiles), but also the optimal intellectual
development. I.e., adequate enteral nutrition is important not only for the optimal
growth and development of a child, but it also improves the neurological forecast [16-
17].
According to Roggero P. (2012), Dobryansky D. (2012, 2015), Ehrenkranz R. A.
(2014), Lunde D. (2014), Moltu S. J. (2014), postnatal growth restriction in infants
with VLBW and ELBW, who have morphofunctional immaturity of all organs and
systems, mostly depends on inadequate enteral nutrition, which cannot provide enough
nutrients for their high nutrient needs [19-24].
In their research, Franz A. R. (2009), Garcia L. V. (2012), Cui Q. L. (2013),
Zachariassen G. (2013), Bielova O. O. (2015), Shunko Ye. Ye. (2016) noted that high-
tech medical care allowed for a significant increase in the survival rate of infants with
VLBW and ELBW, however postnatal growth restriction at discharge from the
neonatal centres in children hospitals (with postnatal growth parameters below 10
th
percentile) is a worldwide problem relevant for up to 75-90% of infants with VLBW
and ELBW, and approximately a half of these infants have severe growth restriction
(below 3
rd
percentile), which results in lower health status in later life, including an
unfavourable prognosis for the development of persistent neurological deficiency [25-
30].
Therefore, the delay in postnatal growth during the first year of life presents a
significant problem since it affects long-term forecast about physical and
psychoneurological development and determines the physical and intellectual
development of a child in later life.
Features of infants born with VLBW and ELBW. The study involved 126
children born with VLBW (n=92) and ELBW (n=34) in Ukrainian maternity hospitals
and were transferred to neonatology departments of the neonatal centre of the children
hospital in Kyiv for further treatment. Gestational age (GA) was 23-34 weeks.
Inclusion criteria were as follows: body weight (BW) under 1500g, transferred to
neonatology departments of the neonatal centre of the children hospital in Kyiv,
discharged home.
Exclusion criteria were as follows: BW above 1500g, not transferred to
neonatology departments of the neonatal centre of the children hospital in Kyiv, death
of a child, discharged to an orphanage.
All involved infants were divided into 2 groups by BW: VLBW infants and
ELBW infants. The gender composition of the groups was the same: 41 (44.6%) boys
in VLBW group vs 17 (50%) boys in ELBW group; 51 (55.4%) vs 17 (50%) girls
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