Movements and postures of infants aged 3 to 5 months: to what extent is their optimality related to perinatal events and to the neurological outcome?

Background: The quality of spontaneous general movements (GMs), assessed in the individual infant, has emerged as one of the most reliable and valid predictors especially of severe neurological impairments.

Aims: To implement a more detailed assessment of GMs and co-existing movements and postural patterns in a rehabilitation clinic, and to examine to what extend is the optimality of movements and postures of infants aged 3 to 5 months related to perinatal events and the neurological outcome.

Study Design: Prospective study of 41 infants (15 boys and 26 girls; 11 infants born preterm) admitted to the Department of Paediatric Neurology and Rehabilitation of the St.

Cardiac surgery in patients with trisomy 18.

Cardiac surgery is infrequently but increasingly being used to repair congenital heart defects associated with trisomy 18. The clinical details of trisomy 18 patients undergoing cardiac surgery have rarely been reported. Seventeen patients with trisomy 18 and serious cardiac symptoms underwent cardiac surgery in our institution.

Intensive cardiac management in patients with trisomy 13 or trisomy 18.

Intensive cardiac management such as pharmacological intervention for ductal patency (indomethacin and/or mefenamic acid for closure and prostaglandin E1 for maintenance) and palliative or corrective surgery is a standard treatment for congenital heart defects. However, whether it would be a treatment option for children with trisomy 13 or trisomy 18 syndrome is controversial because the efficacy on survival in patients with these trisomies has not been evaluated. We retrospectively reviewed 31 consecutive neonates with trisomy 13 or trisomy 18 admitted to our neonatal ward within 6 hr of birth between 2000 and 2005.

Are abnormal fidgety movements an early marker for complex minor neurological dysfunction at puberty?

Background: Prechtl's method on the qualitative assessment of general movements (GMs) is a powerful tool for early and specific prediction of cerebral palsy. However, it is uncertain whether the GM assessment can be used to predict mild neurological impairment.

Aims: To determine whether the quality of general movements (GMs) from the age of 3 to 5 months, i.

Does a detailed assessment of poor repertoire general movements help to identify those infants who will develop normally?

Background: The assessment of the quality of general movements (GMs) in young infants is a reliable and valid diagnostic tool for detecting brain dysfunction early in life. Poor repertoire GMs are the most frequently observed abnormal GMs during the preterm, term and early postterm period. However, their predictive value for the neurological outcome is low.