title: Increased brain weight-liver weight ratio as a necropsy sign of intrauterine undernutrition.
abstract: Comparison of the brain weight/liver weight ratio(1) with the body weight of 95 stillborn and neonatally deceased infants of gestation 25-42 weeks shows that in appropriately grown infants the mean value ratio is 2.8 and is unchanged with increasing maturity. The normal range is 1.7-4.1. Survival time has no significant effect on the ratio as studied in this necropsy population. Dysmature infants of body weight less than 1 SD below the mean body weight for gestation are characterized by a brain: liver weight ratio of 4.5 or more. On the basis of these observations the brain: liver weight ratio may be employed as a guide to the prenatal nutrition of infants at necropsy.
mesh_terms: D001344:Autopsy; D001724:Birth Weight; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology*; D004964:Estriol / Q000652:urine; D005260:Female; D005313:Fetal Death / Q000473:pathology; D005315:Fetal Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology*; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D007226:Infant Mortality; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008099:Liver / Q000473:pathology*; D009748:Nutrition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology*; D009929:Organ Size; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications; D013223:Statistics as Topic
chemical_list: D004964:Estriol