Weight minus extracellular fluid as metabolic reference standard in newborn baby.

Bhakoo, 0. N., and Scopes, J. W. (1971). Archives of Disease in Childhood, 46, 483. Weight minus extracellular fluid as metabolic reference standard in newborn baby. In 51 babies of differing size and gestational age, rates of oxygen consumption and corrected bromide space (as a measure of extracellular fluid) were measured. The results are used to examine the concept that weight minus extracellular fluid (ECF) is an appropriate metabolic reference standard in the newborn baby. When the whole group, which included large-for-dates and smallfor-dates babies, is considered there is a systematic variation wherein the rate of oxygen consumption thus expressed varies with size. However, when appropriately grown babies only are considered, who varied in birthweight from 1210 g to 3820 g,