ARE BABIES WITH GASTROSCHISIS SMALL-FOR-GESTATIONAL-AGE

A large proportion of babies with gastroschisis (GS) have low birth we ights. It is not clear, however, whether only certain subgroups or the whole population of babies with GS have low birth weights, The aim of this study was to ascertain if the birth weights of babies with GS ar e significantly lower than those of the general population and to dete rmine if the birth weights of babies with GS from two different popula tions were significantly different. From 1969 to 1995, 44 babies with GS were treated at Auckland Children's Hospital, New Zealand. From 198 0 to 1993, 69 babies were treated at Birmingham Children's Hospital, E ngland. For each group, the mean birth weight relative to the mean bir th weight for gestation (WtStdev) was significantly different from zer o (Auckland = -0.806, Birmingham = -0.762, P < 0.001, one-sample analy sis). The mean WtStdev scores from each centre were not significantly different from each other. Our data demonstrate that the birth weights of babies with GS are significantly lower than those of the general p opulation and are similar in different populations. These findings sup port the notion that a normally functioning intestinal tract is essent ial for normal fetal growth.