Fitness limitations in non-disabled extremely low birthweight adolescents.

Aim: This study aims to compare non-disabled otherwise healthy extremely low birthweight (ELBW) (<1000 g) children and term-born peers in an investigation of relationship between cardiorespiratory endurance and parent report of competence.

Methods: Forty-eight of 105 eligible ELBW 11- to 13-year-old children (27 male) and 55 term-born school peers (28 male) completed a 20-m shuttle run, anthropometric measures, respiratory function tests and the Motor Assessment Battery for Children. Parents completed the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL).

Perinatal events and motor performance of children born with ELBW and nondisabled.

Purpose: To explore the relationship between perinatal variables and motor performance in children who were born with extremely low birth weight (ELBW) and were nondisabled at 1 and 4 years.

Methods: Children without neurological or cognitive impairment (n = 48) born weighing less than 1000 g between 1992 and 1994 were assessed at 1 and 4 years corrected age using the Neurosensory Motor Developmental Assessment (NSMDA). Scores were used to categorize motor performance as normal or abnormal.

Perinatal factors in non-disabled ELBW school children and later performance.

Aim: To determine the association between perinatal events and subsequent motor performance, cardiorespiratory endurance and respiratory function in non-disabled extremely low birthweight (ELBW) school children at 12 years of age.

Methods: Forty-eight ELBW infants were included in this study. The Movement Assessment Battery for Children (MABC), VO(2) max score as a measure of cardiorespiratory endurance and respiratory function testing were performed and perinatal variables were extracted from the children's hospital files.

The long-term predictive validity of early motor development in "apparently normal" ELBW survivors.

Background: Within the able majority of ELBW survivors, there is a lack of identified predictors of which children will require extra support despite having escaped significant disability.

Aims: Investigate the predictive validity of early motor scores, compared to that of perinatal descriptors or early growth, on long-term motor impairment in non-disabled ELBW (<1000g) children.

Study Design: Prospective longitudinal study.

Neurodevelopmental outcome and risk factors for disability for twin-twin transfusion syndrome treated with laser surgery.

Objective: This study was performed to report the neurodevelopmental outcome of survivors of twin-twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS) treated with laser surgery and to determine the risk factors for neurodevelopmental disability.

Study Design: A prospective study of TTTS cases treated with laser was performed. Survivors were assessed at 2 years corrected for prematurity.

Motor coordination difficulties and physical fitness of extremely-low-birthweight children.

Motor coordination difficulties and poor fitness exist in the extremely low birthweight (ELBW) population. This study investigated the relative impact of motor coordination on the fitness of ELBW children aged 11 to 13 years. One hundred and nine children were recruited to the study: 54 ELBW participants (mean age at assessment 12y 6mo; 31 male, 23 female; mean birthweight 769g, SD 148g; mean gestational age 26.

Behaviour and quality of life at school age of children who had bronchopulmonary dysplasia.

Background: There is little information available concerning behavioural and functional health problems in children who had bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD).

Aim: To compare behavioural problems and quality of life in a cohort of children at school age who had BPD with preterm and term controls.

Methods: The cohort of 78 BPD children of 26 to 33 weeks' gestation was matched for birth weight with preterm controls.

Selection pressure-driven evolution of the Epstein-Barr virus-encoded oncogene LMP1 in virus isolates from Southeast Asia.

The geographically constrained distribution of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-associated nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) in southeast Asian populations suggests that both viral and host genetics may influence disease risk. Although susceptibility loci have been mapped within the human genome, the role of viral genetics in the focal distribution of NPC remains an enigma. Here we report a molecular phylogenetic analysis of an NPC-associated viral oncogene, LMP1, in a large panel of EBV isolates from southeast Asia and from Papua New Guinea, Africa, and Australia, regions of the world where NPC is and is not endemic, respectively.