Table 3

17α-hydroxyprogesterone concentrations in preterm infants: review of published findings

Author YearNo of preterm infantsTime of collection17OHP (nmol/l)Remarks
Cacciariet al 17 1983Total 41 299Days 1–15Peak 13 pg/diskInfant maturity and day of collection  affect values
 preterm 3935 range 13–5 pg/disk
Wallace et al 9 1985376 (direct method)Second week after birthDirect: median 31 nmol/lResults were lower in extraction assay
 118 (extraction method) extraction: median 13.5 range 0–75 nmol/l
Berry et al 12 198632Days 3,8,14Peak 130 nmol/l (day=3)Upper limit: term infants—20 nmol/l
 range 20–80 nmol/l preterm—200 nmol/l
Laressonet al 10 1988Total 22 400After 72 h (medain 5 days)n=201–>100 nmol/lCorrelation with gestational age
 (preterm + full term)n=13–>400 nmol/l
Thompson et al 3 198989 (<2500 g)Days 1–24n=11–>30 nmol/lDay of collection did not influence  results
Lee et al 11198922 (13 healthy, 9 sick)Days 2–5Healthy 28.5 (6.2) nmol/lConcentrations are higher in sick  preterm infants
 mean (SD) sick 42.2 (7.2) nmol/l
Knudtzonet al 17 199126Days 3–17 (mean 7.7)Mean (SD) 53.3 (6.3) nmol/lNegative correlation with gestational  age and birth weight
Ohkuboet al 131992836Days 3 to 96<29 w—2.0 (1.39) nmol/lELISA
30–34 w—1.3 (0.85) nmol/l
35–36 w—0.82 (0.85) nmol/l
(log values)
Hingreet al 18 199425 (<1250 g)Day 4Mean (SD)=11.4 (11.1) nmol/lHigh concentrations in very low  birthweight infants
Al Saediet al 4 199539 healthy <31 weeksOnce a week until age 37 weeksMean (SD)=11.4 (11.1) nmol/lPredicted 17OHP concentrations:
 range 1.4–82.5 nmol/l 9.4–13—initial
 5.2–5.3—35 to 56 days of age
Allen et al 151997149 684At time of dischargeMultitiered reporting scheme:Weight adjusted criteria reduced the  false positive results without  diminishing sensitivity
 1299 g—499.3 nmol/l
 1300–1699 g—408.5 nmol/l
 1700–2200 g—272.3 nmol/l
 >2200 g—121.0 nmol/l
Linder et al 1999 (present study)66Once a week during the first month and then every two weeks until age 3 months17OHP (nmol/l)17OHP concentrations decline to full  term concentrations during the  first three months of life.  Birthweight and gestational age  affect level
Day<29 week29–30 week31–32 week>33 week
1179.198.399.678.1
7138.946.353.329.9
1463.240.242.929.7
2145.140.244.331.2
2842.148.748.132.1
4537.535.435.429.7
6035.026.925.117.8
9032.723.616.913.0