Osteopenia of Prematurity in an Extremely Low-Birth-Weight Infant

Daiva Gorczyca^1, , Hanna Cebula², Elżbieta Rapior³ and Marek Michalski³

¹3rd Department and Clinic of Pediatrics, Immunology and Rheumatology of Developmental Age, Wroclaw Medical University, Wroclaw, Poland

²Department of Clinical Immunology and Pediatrics, Gromkowski Hospital, Wroclaw, Poland

³Department of Neonatology, Gromkowski Hospital, Wroclaw, Poland

Cite this paper:
Daiva Gorczyca, Hanna Cebula, Elżbieta Rapior and Marek Michalski. Osteopenia of Prematurity in an Extremely Low-Birth-Weight Infant. American Journal of Medical Case Reports. 2013; 1(1):12-15. doi: 10.12691/ajmcr-1-1-5

Abstract

Osteopenia of prematurity is a relatively frequent disease in preterm infants. In many cases it remains clinically silent and it is poorly recognized until signs of rickets and pathological fractures occur. We report a case of a preterm female infant with a gestational age of 27 weeks and a birth weight of 820 g with clinical signs of osteopenia: flattened occiput, softness of the skull, generalized hypotonia, bone fragility and fractures. Early and proper supplementation of nutrients and minerals is essential to achieve sufficient bone mineralization.

Keywords:
osteopenia prematurity bone calcium ELBW infant

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