Critical care problems in neonates. Colloid osmotic pressure in healthy and sick neonates.

Clinical usefulness of colloid osmotic pressure (COP) measurements in adults has been well established. However, data in healthy and sick neonates are sparse. The present study established the COP changes in healthy term and preterm infants and in critically ill neonates. COP in healthy term (16.9 +/- 1.9 mm Hg) and preterm (15.4 +/- 1.3) infants was significantly lower than adults (21.6 +/- 3.6). Even in sick neonates, COP correlated with gestational age (n = 78, r = 0.63, p less than 0.001 , birth weight (r = 0.58, p less than 0.001) and total protein (n = 71, r = 0.58, p less than 0.001). Critically ill preterm infants with hyaline membrane disease had the lowest COP (11.5 +/- 1.2). Administration of 10% albumin failed to increase the COP significantly. In critically ill preterm infants who survived, the COP increased during the first postnatal week, whereas in nonsurvivors COP decreased significantly to less than 10 mm Hg.