title: Neonatal hypoglycemia--clinical profile and glucose requirements.
abstract: A total of 2248 infants born at All India Institute of Medical Sciences Hospital, New Delhi were selectively screened for hypoglycemia over a period of 15 months. Hypoglycemia (blood glucose less than 30 mg/dl) was diagnosed in 107 cases (4.8%). Preterm babies had three times increased risk (12.8%) as compared to term babies (3.6%). Small-for-dates (SFDs) and large-for-dates (LFDs) infants were at increased risk of manifesting hypoglycemia (7 and 10 times, respectively) as compared to the appropriate-for-dates (AFDs) babies (2.7%). Approximately two-thirds of the hypoglycemic babies (67.3%) had one or more risk factors including birth asphyxia (24.2%), diabetic mothers (23.8%), respiratory distress (13.9%) and septicemia (11.6%). A total of 59.8% cases were asmyptomatic while the rest had one or more symptoms. The most common symptom observed was lethargy (81.4%), followed by jitteriness (67.4%), respiratory abnormalities (41.9%), hypotonia (39.5%) and seizures (30.2%). The amount of glucose (mg/kg/min) needed to maintain a stable blood sugar in various categories of hypoglycemic babies was observed to be in the following decreasing order of amount; symptomatic babies with seizures (Gp IV), IGDM's/IDM's and symptomatic babies with other features (Gp III), SFDs and LFDs (Gp II) and AFDs (Gp I). Such a categorization of hypoglycemic babies will help to treat them more precisely.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi.
authors.forename: P K
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Singhal
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.forename: V K
authors.initials: VK
authors.lastname: Paul
authors.forename: A K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Deorari
authors.forename: M G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Ghorpade
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Malhotra
mesh_terms: D001724:Birth Weight; D005865:Gestational Age; D005947:Glucose / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D006801:Humans; D007003:Hypoglycemia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D012307:Risk Factors
chemical_list: D005947:Glucose