Nephrocalcinosis in preterm neonates, Afzalipourhospital, Kerman university

Introduction: Nephrocalcinosis is defined as renal calcification. Low gestational ageand low birth weight, male sex, some drugs such as furosemide, dexamethasone, methyl xanthines,steroids, excess vitamin D and calcium intake by mother are some of its known precipitating factors. Some studiessuggested mechanical ventilation, the duration of hospital stay and TPN as precipitating factors.The aimof this study was to assess the frequency of some of these precipitating factors regarding nephrocalcinosis in prematureneonates. Materials and methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted following an approval from the ethicscommittee of Kerman university of medical sciences in which 115 premature infants less than32 weeks of gestation admitted in NICUAfzalipour hospital, Kerman, Iran were assessed during years 2012-2013. Data regarding neonates including sex, age, weight, apgar score at the time of birth, hospitalization duration, prescribed drugs, with or withoutmechanical ventilationand lab data were gathered by checklist.Renal ultrasound was obtained from all patients at the end of 8th week of age by a professional radiologist and by the same device. All data were entered and analyzed by descriptive testsusing spssv.17 and the results were reported as mean±SD for quantitative data and frequency for qualitative data.Results: mean gestational age at the time of admission was 30-35 weeks. 50 neonates were female and 65 were male.Nephrocalcinosis was seen in 42 (36.5%) of the patients.Nephrocalcinosis was more common in males and was associated with family history of renal stone, highurinary calcium, low urinary citrate, plasma high calcium levels, vancomycin prescription in neonate and intake of excess vitamin D and calcium by mother respectively. In contrast, no association between nephrocalcinosis and gestational age, apgar score at the time of birthand usage of aminoglycoside, dexamethasone and mechanical ventilation was observed.Conclusion: demographic indices and nephrocalcinosis precipitating factors assessed in the present study was in accordance with other available studies so far, but our results regarding vancomycin prescription and family history of renal stones in association with nephrocalcinosis were in contrast to other studies

Keywords:

nephrocalcinosis , hypercalciuria , premature neonate , vitamin D