Impact of Improved Survival of Very Low Birth Weight Infants on Recent Secular Trends in the Prevalence of Cerebral Palsy

PEDIATRICS ◽  
1993 ◽  
Vol 91 (6) ◽  
pp. 1094-1100
Author(s):  
Vidya Bhushan ◽  
Nigel Paneth ◽  
John L. Kiely

Objective. To review recent secular trends in the prevalence of cerebral palsy in industrialized countries that have population-based cerebral palsy registries and to estimate such time-trends for the United States, where until recently such registries were absent. Data sources. Recent epidemiologic studies of cerebral palsy published in peer-reviewed journals in English, and US vital data bearing on the principal demographic determinants of cerebral palsy—birth rates, the birth weight distributions, birth weight-specific mortality risk, and cerebral palsy risk among survivors. Results. Most epidemiologic studies from industrialized countries show a rise in the childhood prevalence of cerebral palsy in recent decades, largely because of the increasing contribution of children of low and very low birth weight to its prevalence. The only demographic determinant of cerebral palsy prevalence that is changing rapidly in the United States is survival of low birth weight and very low birth weight infants. Based on the magnitude of change in the survival of low and very low birth weight infants, it is estimated that childhood prevalence of cerebral palsy rose about 20% between 1960 and 1986 in the United States. Conclusion. An apparently unavoidable side effect of the increasing success of newborn intensive care is a moderate rise in the childhood prevalence of cerebral palsy.

PEDIATRICS ◽  
1986 ◽  
Vol 77 (5) ◽  
pp. 792-793
Author(s):  
EMILE PAPIERNIK

In Reply.— The interest of neonatologists in preventing preterm deliveries is remarkable in the United States. In France, where a policy of prevention was developed nationally in 1971, the first impulse also came from the neonatologists and specifically Alex Minkowski, who challenged the obstetricians to propose a real prevention program. The results of this program have now been published.1 incidence of very low birth weight infants in France in 1972 was 0.8 and in 1981 0.4.2


2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Munik Shrestha ◽  
Samuel V. Scarpino ◽  
Erika M. Edwards ◽  
Lucy T. Greenberg ◽  
Jeffrey D. Horbar

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefania Longo ◽  
Camilla Caporali ◽  
Camilla Pisoni ◽  
Alessandro Borghesi ◽  
Gianfranco Perotti ◽  
...  

AbstractPreterm very low birth weight infants (VLBWi) are known to be at greater risk of adverse neurodevelopmental outcome. Identifying early factors associated with outcome is essential in order to refer patients for early intervention. Few studies have investigated neurodevelopmental outcome in Italian VLBWi. The aim of our longitudinal study is to describe neurodevelopmental outcome at 24 months of corrected age in an eleven-year cohort of 502 Italian preterm VLBWi and to identify associations with outcome. At 24 months, Griffiths’ Mental Developmental Scales were administered. Neurodevelopmental outcome was classified as: normal, minor sequelae (minor neurological signs, General Quotient between 76 and 87), major sequelae (cerebral palsy; General Quotient ≤ 75; severe sensory impairment). 75.3% showed a normal outcome, 13.9% minor sequelae and 10.8% major sequelae (3.8% cerebral palsy). Male gender, bronchopulmonary dysplasia, abnormal neonatal neurological assessment and severe brain ultrasound abnormalities were independently associated with poor outcome on multivariate ordered logistic regression. Rates of major sequelae are in line with international studies, as is the prevalence of developmental delay over cerebral palsy. Analysis of perinatal complications and the combination of close cUS monitoring and neurological assessment are still essential for early identification of infants with adverse outcome.


PEDIATRICS ◽  
1986 ◽  
Vol 78 (6) ◽  
pp. 1143-1145
Author(s):  
MYRON E. WEGMAN

About one tenth of all infant deaths occur in babies weighing less than 500 g at birth, almost all of whom die very shortly thereafter. In 1983, when the United States reported 3,638,933 live births, 4,368 of them were less than 500 g; that year there were 26,507 neonatal deaths. This means that slightly more than 0.1% of all live births contributed to 17% of neonatal mortality. Given this order of magnitude, any change in the numbers relating to these tiny babies can have a disproportionate influence on reported infant mortality and on interstate comparisons. Two questions promptly arise. How accurate and meaningful are the data regarding babies born weighing less than 500 g? What can be done to decrease the deaths in this category? Wilson et al1 call attention to how the number of very low birth weight infants reported by a state may be affected by the state's definition of a live birth.


2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (suppl_1) ◽  
pp. e51-e51
Author(s):  
Abdulaziz Bahassan ◽  
Colin Depp

Abstract BACKGROUND Reports in 2015 showed that premature birth rate in the United States increased when compared to 2014 data, and this was the first increment since 2007. Major complications of prematurity and birth weight abnormalities are well known, but other complications including mental health abnormalities require more investigation to understand their association well. OBJECTIVES We aimed in this study to determine if prematurity and birth weight abnormalities including very low birth weight (VLBW) and low birth weight (LBW) are associated with depression among United States children aged between six and seventeen years old. ​ DESIGN/METHODS This is a cross sectional study using data from the National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH) 2011–2012. When we applied our selection criteria, 84,182 children out of the total 95,677 NSCH population were selected. Our exclusion criteria were: age less than six years, child’s history of cerebral palsy, and mental retardation. Multivariable logistic regression was done to control for confounding effects when studying the association of prematurity, birth weight abnormalities and depression. ​ RESULTS Our results reveal that 3.6% of our population had history of depression, 11% were born prematurely, 7.4% had low birth weight, and 1.5% had very low birth weight. Depression was more frequent in children who were born prematurely (prevalence 4.3%) when compared to children born at term. Different models were built to analyze the association between prematurity, birth weight abnormalities and depression. There was no detectable statistically significant association when controlling for demographic data (age, gender, race, family structure) and mental health risk factors (parental poor mental health, chronic health conditions) as well as other factors. Results reveal that children who had chronic health conditions or had adverse family experiences have greater odds of having depression. On the other hand, African-American, male, and younger (6–11 years old) children have lower odds of depression. ​ CONCLUSION Further longitudinal studies are required to establish a causal relationship of behavioral and psychological complications, and to determine the biological mechanisms of brain development that could be associated with depression among premature infants or those who have birth weight abnormalities.


2009 ◽  
Vol 26 (06) ◽  
pp. 407-418 ◽  
Author(s):  
Autumn Kiefer ◽  
Andrea Wickremasinghe ◽  
Jonathan Johnson ◽  
Tyler Hartman ◽  
Susan Hintz ◽  
...  

2011 ◽  
Vol 26 (11) ◽  
pp. 1405-1410 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dae-Hyun Jang ◽  
In Young Sung ◽  
Jae Yong Jeon ◽  
Hye Jin Moon ◽  
Ki-Soo Kim ◽  
...  

The authors reviewed the medical records of very low-birth-weight infants admitted from 1998 to 2007 and compared neurodevelopmental outcomes with their previously reported data from 1989 to 1997. The recent group included 824 infants, and the previous group included 471 infants. Neurodevelopmental outcomes were classified into cerebral palsy and non–cerebral palsy neurodevelopmental impairment. In the recent group, the survival rate was significantly higher (79.4% vs 66.2%), the rate of cerebral palsy was lower (7.9% vs 10.5%), and the rate of non–cerebral palsy neurodevelopmental impairment was higher (6.0% vs 4.5%) but not significant. The survival rate increased significantly over time, but there was no significant change in neurodevelopmental outcomes over time. Multivariate analysis indicated that abnormal neurosonographic findings, using assisted ventilation, vaginal delivery, and abnormal brainstem auditory evoked potential, were associated with increased risk for cerebral palsy.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document