ACID STEATOCRIT DURING INFANCY

The faecal acid steatocrit is an improved steatocrit method for the ev aluation of faecal fat. The present study was set up in order to estab lish reference values during the first year of life. Faecal acid steat ocrit values were determined in 58 healthy full term and in 16 healthy prematurely born infants. Very high acid steatocrit results (above 60 %) were found in all premature and many formula-fed term infants durin g the first 6 months of age, thereafter with values below 10%. In 40- to 120-day-old infants acid steatocrit results of human milk-fed infan ts were significantly lower than those of formula-fed infants (p < 0.0 1). We conclude that high acid steatocrit results after the age of 6 m onths are indicative of fat malabsorption, while before this age high values can be due to ''physiological steatorrhoea''. The acid steatocr it should be useful for the evaluation of milk fat absorption in infan ts.