PubMed HealthSearch

Biomedical subjects

C W Woodruff

Publications and source records attributed to C W Woodruff.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

The electroretinogram in preterm infants.

With the hope that the electroretinogram (ERG) in preterm infants could help clarify their vitamin A requirements, a technique for recording the full-field ERG in the neonate is described. One hundred seventy-seven ERGs were performed in 59 preterm and 52 term infants. An ERG was recorded as soon as 7 hours after birth and as early as 30 weeks after conception. In preterm infants the a-wave latency was longer and the amplitude less than in term infants of the same age. The amplitude of the ERG in preterm infants increased with the duration of light exposure. Longitudinal data on 15 preterm infants showed a reduction in a-wave latency. None of the ERG findings correlated with postconceptional age, which suggests that the duration of light exposure is a major determinant of the ERG pattern in preterm infants. Despite low circulating levels of retinol, no correlations with any of the ERG values were found.

Electroretinography

Vitamin A status of preterm infants: correlation between plasma retinol concentration and retinol dose response.

Retinol dose response tests were performed on 83 preterm infants shortly before discharge by giving orally 5000 IU of an aqueous dispersion of retinol. Predose plasma retinol concentrations were 2.5-20.5 micrograms/dL (0.087-0.72 mumol/L) and the retinol dose responses were 0-59.8%. The regression of retinol dose response on predose retinol was -0.58. There was a parallel increase in both retinol and retinol-binding protein and an increase in the molar ratio of retinol-binding protein to prealbumin. Prealbumin did not increase. These findings suggest that preterm infants have reduced liver stores of vitamin A.

Dose-Response Relationship, Drug

Vitamin A status of preterm infants: the influence of feeding and vitamin supplements.

Consecutive weekly determinations of plasma retinol, alpha-tocopherol, retinol-binding protein, prealbumin, and zinc were performed on a group of 58 infants weighing less than 2000 g at birth in an intensive-care nursery. Data were classified by the feeding regimen of the preceding week: parenteral, premature formula, or own mother's milk. Mean plasma-retinol values were less than 20 mcg/dl, the lower limit of normal for adults, with the highest values in the formula-fed group. Retinol-binding protein and prealbumin values were lowest in the parenterally-fed group. Alpha-tocopherol concentrations were consistently maintained at levels higher than 500 mcg/dl only in infants fed their own mother's milk. Mean zinc concentrations above 70 mcg/dl, the lower limit of normal for adults, occurred only in parenterally fed infants. Doubling the recommended vitamin supplement in formula-fed infants did not produce a significant increase in plasma retinol or tocopherol.

Female

Anemia and edema as presenting signs in cystic fibrosis: case report.

Anemia, edema, and length and weight below the 10th tile were the presenting signs in an infant with cystic fibrosis. She had a peripheral blood smear characterized by poikylocytosis, acanthocytosis and anisocytosis; low serum total proteins, albumin, and tocopherol/total lipid ratio. Following two months of treatment with oral pancreatic replacement therapy and tocopherol, her hemoglobin concentration, serum proteins and tocopherol/total lipid ratio returned to normal. The peripheral blood smear showed normal red cell morphology and her length and weight were above the 50th percentile. The mechanisms of anemia in cystic fibrosis patients are discussed.

Anemia

The science of infant nutrition and the art of infant feeding.

Using the recommendations of the Committe on Nutrition of the American Academy of Pediatrics for infant formulas as a scientific base, practical guidelines for feeding infants are given. Breast feeding or the use of a prepared formula meets these recommendations while evaporated milk, fresh cow's milk, and skimmed milk, despite widespread use for many years, do not. The feeding of strained foods and infants cereals should be begun when the infant has reached the stage of development appropriate for feeding from a spoon and swallowing nonliquid foods, usually between 3 and 6 months of age. Lifelong eating patterns begin during this period. Adjusting caloric intake to needs and learning to enjoy a variety of foods are major objectives of feeding practices.

Animals

Iron nutrition in the breast-fed infant.

Breast-fed infants were compared with infants fed a prepared formula not fortified with iron during the first nine months of life. Despite efforts to provide equal iron intakes from cereal and other foods, the breast-fed infants ate less iron-containing foods than the formula-fed infants. The incidence of mild anemia and biochemical iron deficiency was the same in both groups. The breast-fed infants had a significantly lower total iron binding capacity. Breast-fed infants appear to utilize iron more efficiently than formula-fed infants.

Anemia, Hypochromic

The prevention of iron dificency anemia in infants.

The prevention of iron deficiency requires attention to the toal feeding regimen as well as to its iron content. The use of fresh cow's milk in early infancy, a common practice, is associated with the development of measurable degrees of iron deficiency. In many instances excessive amounts of milk produce severe iron deficiency anemia during the second year of life in infants of greater than average birth weight. The psychological factors leading to such milk intakes have been reviewed. Present evidence supports the hypothesis that occult blood loss is a major etiologic factor in iron deficiency in infancy. Although the mechaisms of intestinal damage by fresh cow's milk protein is highly suspect and that the concentration of protein in the formula may play a significant role. What about iron fortification of infant formulas? Itis becoming clear that fullterm infants fed prepared formulas having protein concentrations approaching that of human milk and fed diets containing about 7 mg of iron daily after the age of 3 months infrequently develop biochemical iron deficiency. The addition of iron to the formula at levels of 10 to 12 mg/gt is assurance that their intake is adequate, whatever the iron intake from other foods. Low-birth-weight infants have increased iron needs because of their rapid growth. Iron-ofrtified formulas are necessary for these infants. Since iron from fortified formulas is well absorbed during the first three months of life, even if it is not immediately used for hemoglobin formation, an inccrease in the iron stores will occur...

Adult