[Role of neurologic assessment in the evaluation and prognosis of full-term newborns with asphyxia].

Hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy, the clinical neurological syndrome that follows birth asphyxia, is one of the main causes of neurological sequelae in term newborns. Despite the advent of new imaging and neurophysiological techniques in the last two decades, the value of the neurological assessment of the newborn has not been reduced. The possibility to perform easily serial neurological evaluations allows a detailed and non-invasive follow up of the early developmental processes, providing reliable prognostic information. In this paper we report our experience and a more general review of the literature on the prognostic value of the neurological assessment in term newborns with hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy.