A Study on the Bone Density in Newborn Infants: Difference of the Bone Mineral Density according to the Gestational Age and the Birth Weight

To study the differences of bone mineral density according to the gestational ages and the birth weight and get a reference data for the diagnosis of metabolic bone diseases in the newborn infants, bone mineral densities of the lumbar vertebrae were measured in fifty-three newborn infants born at Yeungnam University Hospital from March 1, 1995 to February 28, 1997, whore gestational ages were between and weeks and who had no intrauterine growth retardation, using dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (X-R 26, Norland, USA) within seven days of life. 1. There was no sexual difference in bone mineral density. The bone density increased significantly as gestational age increased from at 28-30wks to at 39-41wks of gestational age (p, r=0.7018, p in 1,000-1,499 g to in 3,500-4,000 g of the birth weight (p, r=0.7296, p