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Plasma aminotransferase concentrations in preterm infants
  1. S Victor1,
  2. H Dickinson2,
  3. M A Turner3
  1. 1Fetal and Maternal Research Group, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
  2. 2Neonatal Medical Unit, St Mary's Hospital for Women and Children, Manchester, UK
  3. 3School of Reproductive and Developmental Medicine, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK
  1. Correspondence to Dr Suresh Victor, Neonatal Medical Unit, St Mary's Hospital for Women and Children, Whitworth Park, Manchester M13 0JH, UK; suresh.victor{at}manchester.ac.uk

Abstract

The aim of this study was to generate reference ranges for aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) in preterm infants by describing the observed plasma concentration of these enzymes in babies born between 22 and 36 weeks' gestation. A service evaluation was conducted in babies admitted to two large neonatal intensive care units in the UK. 7006 blood samples from 1860 infants admitted to the two units between 2004 and 2008 were included. Extremely premature infants had high plasma enzyme activities when compared to babies at a later corrected gestational age. This may be due to more severe illness immediately after birth.

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Footnotes

  • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.

  • Competing interests None.