Predictive Significance of Bone Metabolism Indexes at Birth in Very Low Birth Weight Infants for Metabolic Bone Disease

Objective: To investigate the predictors of metabolic bone disease in very low birth weight infants. Methods: 129 very low birth weight infants diagnosed with metabolic bone disease were selected as the case group; 47 very low birth weight infants with non-metabolic bone disease during the same period were selected as the control group. The serum calcium, serum phosphorus, serum calcium and phosphorus product, and serum alkaline phosphatase at birth were analyzed and compared between the two groups of infants. Results: The mean serum calcium, serum phosphorus, and serum calcium and phosphorus product of very low birth weight infants diagnosed with metabolic bone disease after discharge were not significantly different from those in the control group ( P values were 0.574, 0.360, and 0.325, respectively); The enzyme level of serum alkaline phosphate was lower than the control group, and the difference was statistically significant ( P = 0.017). Using ROC curve analysis, the area under the curve of serum alkaline phosphatase was 0.519; The sensitivity of serum alkaline phosphatase (241.5 U/L) for the prediction of metabolic bone disease was 84.5%, the specificity was 31.9%, 95%CI: 0.413~0.624. Conclusions: There may be differences in serum alkaline phosphatase at birth in very low birth weight infants with MBDP, but they are not helpful in predicting the occurrence of metabolic bone disease.