"Catch-up" following severe intrauterine retardation of head growth.

In order to assess the potential for "catch-up" growth of the head in "symmetrically" growth retarded infants and the influence of neonatal nutrition, head growth over the first year of life in 18 preterm infants with severe intra-uterine retardation of head growth, but who were otherwise normal, was examined retrospectively. All were delivered before 34 weeks of gestation and, except for 1 with cerebral palsy, showed a significant "catch-up" in head circumference by 10 months post term, with 8/18 stabilizing on or above the fiftieth centile (Fig. 1). This suggests that the reduction in head size in such infants is due to factors extrinsic to the fetus, rather than to a reduced fetal growth potential. Differences in protein and calorie intakes in the neonatal period did not appear to influence the "catch-up".