Abstract
When ambient temperature is controlled to maintain a stable body temperature, the diagnostic value of the latter is lost. Under these conditions, the differences between ambient, skin and core temperature (temperature gradients) should assume clinical significance. Temperature gradients were evaluated in 82 preterm infants of appropriate weight for gestational age. Thirty-eight were healthy and 44 developed RDS, of whom 16 died. All were nursed in incubators with ambient temperature regulated to maintain abdominal skin at 36.5 C. Ambient, core and abdominal skin temperatures were recorded for the first 6 hours of life. The gradients of ambient to skin and core to skin were analyzed for each hour. Ambient was higher than skin temperature in all infants during the first hour, indicating a heat-gaining state. After the first hour, the subsequent pattern of the gradients differed significantly in healthy infants, disstressed survivors and infants who died. In healthy infants, the ambient to skin gradient became negative crossing the increasing core to skin gradient between 1 and 2 hours, whereas in surviving distressed infants this crossing occurred later, between 3-5 hours, reflecting continued inadequate heat production. These findings suggest temperature gradients are a useful tool to monitor heat flow patterns and can provide an accurate prognosis within the first six hours of life.
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Cabal, L., Hodgman, J., Siassi, B. et al. THE PROGNOSTIC VALUE OF TEMPERATURE GRADIENTS IN PRETERM INFANTS. Pediatr Res 11, 511 (1977). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-197704000-00849
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-197704000-00849