How often do perinatal events at full term cause cerebral palsy?

OBJECTIVE

To determine the contribution of perinatal events to cerebral palsy in children born at full term.

METHODS

The delivery records of a cohort of babies born at full term in one tertiary care hospital over an 11-year period were reviewed. The obstetric history and neonatal chart of each baby admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit was then examined. For those babies whose stay in the NICU was because of encephalopathy, brain injury, asphyxia with organ dysfunction, serious infection, or prolonged respiratory support, a review of their medical records was undertaken to determine how many subsequently developed cerebral palsy.

RESULTS

Of 36,368 babies born at term, 20 were later diagnosed as having cerebral palsy in which the causative insult likely occurred just before, during, or shortly after labour and delivery. This is an incidence of cerebral palsy arising from perinatal events of 0.55 per 1000 deliveries. Only six cases, however, were deemed to have been possibly preventable by better obstetric care.

CONCLUSION

In our hospital, perinatal events are an important cause of cerebral palsy in children born at full term, but few cases are potentially preventable.