Identification of pregnancies at increased risk of brachial plexus birth palsy - the construction of a weighted risk score.

OBJECTIVE

Since it is difficult to identify women at increased risk of fetal brachial plexus birth palsy (BPBP) during labor and delivery, we aimed to construct and validate a risk score.

METHODS

A retrospective case-control study was undertaken in 2001 and 2006 in an urban context in Malmö, Sweden. A risk score was constructed for all women who had received routine municipal maternal health care at Skåne University Hospital (n = 10 459). The model was validated among all pregnant women with BPBP and controls in Sweden between 2006 and 2007.

RESULTS

The likelihood of BPBP increased as the risk score rose: 3.1% of the women studied had a risk score ≥5, including 32.1% of the BPBP cases, where the risk showed a 38-fold increase, as compared to those with a risk score ≤1 (2/3 of the population).

CONCLUSION

Our findings indicate that it is possible to identify women at increased risk of having a child with BPBP by using variables observable in advance of delivery.