LOW BIRTH WEIGHT IN FIBROCYSTIC DISEASE OF THE PANCREAS

Abstract

The mean birth weights of 75 white females and 98 white males with fibrocystic disease of the pancreas were compared with the mean birth weights of control female and male infants. For each sex the mean birth weight of patients with fibrocystic disease of the pancreas was significantly lower than the mean for the control population. The proportion of male and female infants whose birth weights were above 3000 gm., in the control population and in the group of patients with fibrocystic disease of the pancreas, was calculated. The percentage for patients with fibrocystic disease of the pancreas was much less than the one for control infants. The difference between the 2 groups was statistically significant. The analysis of these figures favors the hypothesis that in fibrocystic disease of the pancreas there is a fetal or maternal metabolic disturbance of undetermined nature that apparently interferes with the normal growth of the fetus. The mean birth weight of unaffected infants born to women who had followed a special pregnancy diet after having had a previous pregnancy resulting in a child with cystic fibrosis, was higher than the average birth weight for control newborns. The difference was of no statistical significance. The mean birth weight for infants with fibrocystic disease of the pancreas whose mothers followed a special pregnancy diet was higher than the calculated mean birth weight for patients with fibrocystic disease of the pancreas whose mothers received no comparable dietary advice during pregnancy. The difference was not significant. The known effect of a high protein intake during pregnancy, in enhancing the infant's birth weight, appears to apply even when the infant proves to have fibrocystic disease of the pancreas. There is no clear explanation for the tendency to low birth weights in infants with fibrocystic disease of the pancreas. It seems logical to suggest that maternal or fetal metabolic factors may be responsible. The fact that the birth weight and perhaps the incidence of the disease may be modified by a liberal diet during pregnancy is a point that deserves further study.