Neurological outcomes of prematurity

Neurological outcomes
Neonatal intensive care has advanced considerably since the late 1980s, with a
subsequent decline in mortality but the rate of moderate to severe disability has
remained relatively stable at around 8–10 per cent, while other
neurodevelopmental conditions continue to be identified, for example, sensory
impairment (Browne, 2003).
A recent study by Brisch (2003) of very low birthweight (VLBW) infants
found that neurological outcome at 14 months (corrected for prematurity) was
highly correlated with the infant’s Nursery Neurobiological Risk Score—NBRS
(Brazy, Eckerman, Oehler, Goldstein & O’Rand, 1991), measuring biological risk
factors (such as birthweight and gestational age) and complications arising from
neonatal treatment (for example, cerebral haemorrhage, intubation, infection
and number of days in hospital).
In the Brisch (2003) study, at 14 months corrected for prematurity, 40.9 per
cent were found to have functional neurological problems, 18.8 per cent were
mildly disabled, 7.2 per cent severe and 1.4 per cent very severely disabled with
no possibility of locomotion. Thirty-one per cent were healthy.