Neonatal Serum Phosphorus Levels and Enamel Defects in Very Low Birth Weight Infants.
Very low birth weight (VLBW) infants miss out on the period of greatest mineral accretion that occurs during the last trimester of pregnancy and are at higher risk of enamel defects. No studies have well described the relationship between neonatal nutrition and dental outcomes in preterm, VLBW infants. The objective of this study was to assess the differences in nutrition biomarkers, feeding intake, and comorbidities among VLBW infants with and without enamel defects.



A retrospective chart review of VLBW infants recruited for an ongoing longitudinal dental study between 2007 and 2010 was done. Participants were classified as cases and controls according to the presence/absence of developmental defects of enamel at 8 and/or 18-20 and/or 36 months. Demographics and medical and nutrition data were abstracted from 76 subjects' medical charts.



Of the 76 VLBW subjects, 62% had enamel defects (hypoplasia and/or opacity). The only significant variable in the logistic regression analysis was that infants with a 1-mg/dL increase in serum phosphorus levels had a 68% reduction in the odds of having enamel hypoplasia (odds ratio, 0.322; P = .024).



Neonatal lower serum phosphorus levels are significantly associated with enamel hypoplasia in VLBW infants younger than 3 years.
Department of Pediatrics, Division of Neonatology, MetroHealth Medical Center and Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, USA rmerheb@metrohealth.org.
Roula
R
Merheb
Department of Pediatrics, Division of Neonatology, University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky, USA.
Chitra
C
Arumugam
Department of Community Dentistry, School of Dental Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, USA.
Wonik
W
Lee
Department of Pediatrics, Division of Neonatology, MetroHealth Medical Center and Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, USA.
Marc
M
Collin
Department of Pediatrics, Division of Neonatology, MetroHealth Medical Center and Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, USA.
Caroline
C
Nguyen
Department of Pediatrics, Division of Neonatology, MetroHealth Medical Center and Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, USA.
Sharon
S
Groh-Wargo
Department of Community Dentistry, School of Dental Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, USA.
Suchitra
S
Nelson
D000328:Adult; D003743:Dental Enamel / Q000002:abnormalities*; D003744:Dental Enamel Hypoplasia / Q000097:blood; D004435:Eating; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D019102:Infant, Very Low Birth Weight / Q000097:blood*; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D009752:Nutritional Status; D016017:Odds Ratio; D010758:Phosphorus / Q000097:blood*; D011247:Pregnancy; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014071:Tooth Abnormalities / Q000097:blood
D010758:Phosphorus
calcium; calcium homeostasis; enamel defects; nutrition; phosphate; very low birth weight