Reduced renal length and volume 20 years after very preterm birth

  • Mandy G. Keijzer-Veen
  • , Annick S. Devos
  • , Morteza Meradji
  • , Friedo W. Dekker
  • , Jeroen Nauta
  • , Bert J. Van Der Heijden

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

61 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Intrauterine growth retardation is presumed to be associated with decreased renal size and impaired renal function as a result of stunted kidney development and nephron deficit. To study whether very preterm birth also affects renal size at young adulthood, we sonographically measured bipolar kidney length and volume in 51 very premature individuals (<32 weeks of gestation), either small (SGA) or appropriate (AGA) for gestational age (22 SGA and 29 AGA), and 30 full-term controls 20 years after birth. Relative kidney length and volume were calculated. Both absolute and relative left kidney length and volume were significantly lower in SGA and AGA individuals, otably in women. Renal size did not differ between SGA and AGA individuals. In 70% of controls, the left kidney was larger than the right one compared with 40.9% in SGA [relative risk (RR) 1.7; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.0 -3.0] and 48.3% in AGA (RR 1.5; 95% CI 0.9-2.3) individuals. Renal structural anomalies were present in eight prematurely born participants only. Our data suggest that kidney growth is stunted after preterm birth, especially on the left side, and in the female gender.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)499-507
Number of pages9
JournalPediatric Nephrology
Volume25
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Mar 2010

Keywords

  • Developmental origins of health and disease
  • Intrauterine growth retardation
  • Kidney development
  • Preterm birth
  • Renal growth
  • Renal ultrasound

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Reduced renal length and volume 20 years after very preterm birth'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this