[Perinatal mortality].

The aim of this study was to determine whether the risk of stillbirth associated with male fetal sex was modified by fetal growth. The study group consisted of all singleton first births weighing greater than 500 g delivered between 28 and 43 weeks gestation in Scotland in 1980-1996 (n = 469,152). Overall, male fetuses were at an increased risk of stillbirth (relative risk = 1.19, 95 percent confidence interval: 1.10, 1.29). There was a significant negative interaction between male sex and increasing birth weight quintile in term, but not preterm, births. The interaction was virtually identical when calculated independently for births in the periods 1980-1987 and 1988-1996. There were linear decreases in the proportion of stillbirths and the proportion of birth weights in the lowest quintile over the period 1980-1996. Adjustment for year of birth did not affect the relation between male sex and stillbirth. However, adjustment for birth weight resulted in a loss of the association between year of birth and risk of stillbirth. The authors concluded that 1) the association between male sex and stillbirth diminishes with increasing birth weight quintile, and 2) there was a fall in the proportion of stillbirths in Scotland between 1980 and 1996, which may have been due to a fall in the proportion of small babies over the same period.

Birth Weight↗

PubMed2000

Reference values for selected trace elements in serum of term newborns from the urban area of Rome.

Reference values for Al, Cd, Co, Cu, Li, Mn, Mo, Ni, Rb, Se and Zn, and indicative intervals for Sb are proposed in serum from cord blood of 143 term newborns of the urban area of Rome. On the basis of the eligibility criteria adopted, only babies with gestational age > 37 weeks and body weight at the delivery > 2500 g, i.e., "normal" term infants, were included in this study. With the exception of Cd, Li, Ni and Sb, experimental data for each of the other analytes were found to approach a normal distribution. The estimated references values (in ng/ml) were the following: Al, 1. 12-6.79; Cd, 0.10-0.52; Co, 0.20-0.43; Cu, 140-691; Li, 0.31-2.23; Mn, 0.79-3.26; Mo, 0.36-1.56; Ni, 0.20-3.15; Rb, 196-1302; Sb, 0. 10-1.48 (indicative range); Se, 20.2-69.7; and Zn, 318-1405. For several elements, the information available in the relevant literature does not allow adequate comparisons to be performed. This was actually possible only for Cu, Se and Zn. The correlations between the weights at birth (BW), gestational ages (GA) and elemental concentrations were elucidated. As expected, significant positive correlations were found for Cu and Se with GA and BW, respectively. Strong mutual associations were observed for several other elements, but their interpretation is still debatable.

Birth Weight↗