Pancreatic insufficiency, growth, and nutrition in infants identified by newborn screening as having cystic fibrosis M. N. Bronstein, PhD, R. J. Sokol, MD, S, H. A b m a n , MD, B. A. C h a t f i e l d , MD, K. B. H a m m o n d , MS, K. M. H a m b i d g e , FRCP(Ed), ScD, C. D. Stall, RD, a n d F. J. A c c u r s o , MD From the Department of Pediatrics, University of Colorado School of Medicine and Children's Hospital, Denver, Colorado To e v a l u a t e the impact of early p a n c r e a t i c insufficiency on growth and nutritional status in cystic fibrosis, we studied 49 infants identified by a newborn screening program. Pancreatic insufficiency, d e t e r m i n e d b y increased 72-hour fecal fat excretion, was present in 59% (23/39)of infants at diagnosis (7.0___ 0.8 w e e k s ; m e a n _+ SEM). Before initiation of p a n c r e a t i c enzyme r e p l a c e m e n t , growth and nutritional status of pancreatic-insufficient (n = 16) and pancreatic-sufficient (n = 1 3 ) i n f a n t s w e r e c o m p a r e d . Pancreatic-ins~ufficient infants g a i n e d less weight from birth to diagnosis (13.4 ___3.4 vs 22.3 _+ 4.0 g m / d a y ; p = 0.05), had d e c r e a s e d triceps skin-fold thicknesses (4.5 _+ 0.3 vs 6.1 _+0.4 mm; p
