[Perinatal encephalopathy sequelae identified by a neurobehavioral scale in one year old infants].

Objective: to identify neurodevelopmental sequelae in one year old infants with perinatal encephalopathy utilizing the neurobehavioral scale named Vanedela.

Methods: a cohort of 75 newborns with perinatal encephalopathy was assessed with a neurobehavioral follow-up scale at age of 1, 4, 8 and 12 months. A distinction was made between functional, structural and combined encephalopathy. Two groups of neurodevelopmental outcome at one year were identified: with or without sequelae. Nonparametric statistics was used.

Results: infants with functional encephalopathy had the best scores, followed by those with structural encephalopathy, while infants with a combined encephalopathy had the lowest scores. At one year of age, the group with neurobehavioral sequelae exhibited the lowest scores and retarded growth. At the same age, the group with functional encephalopathy exhibited no neurobehavioral sequelae, and reached better scores and growth.

Conclusions: the neurobehavioral follow-up scale is able to identify the neurodevelopmental sequelae at the age of one year in infants with perinatal encephalopathy. The application of Vanedela in the clinical field requires of little time, its results are trustworthy and very useful for the neurobehavioral follow-up assessment.