Early Childhood Outcomes After Neonatal Encephalopathy in Uganda: A Cohort Study.
prospective_cohort · Level II
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 30740596.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1016/j.eclinm.2018.12.001 and PMC identifier 6358042.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Neonatal encephalopathy (NE) is a leading cause of global child mortality. Survivor outcomes in low-resource settings are poorly described. We present early childhood outcomes after NE in Uganda. We conducted a prospective cohort study of term-born infants with NE (n = 210) and a comparison group of term non-encephalopathic (non-NE) infants (n = 409), assessing neurodevelopmental impairment (NDI) and growth at 27-30 months. Relationships between early clinical parameters and later outcomes were summarised using risk ratios (RR). Mortality by 27-30 months was 40·3% after NE and 3·8% in non-NE infants. Impairment-free survival occurred in 41·6% after NE and 98·7% of non-NE infants. Amongst NE survivors, 29·3% had NDI including 19·0% with cerebral palsy (CP), commonly bilateral spastic CP (64%); 10·3% had global developmental delay (GDD) without CP. CP was frequently associated with childhood seizures, vision and hearing loss and mortality. NDI was commonly associated with undernutrition (44·1% Z-score < - 2) and microcephaly (32·4% Z-score < - 2). Motor function scores were reduced in NE survivors without CP/GDD compared to non-NE infants (median difference - 8·2 (95% confidence interval; - 13·0, - 3·7)). Neonatal clinical seizures (RR 4.1(2.0-8.7)), abnormalities on cranial ultrasound, (RR 7.0(3.8-16.3), nasogastric feeding at discharge (RR 3·6(2·1-6·1)), and small head circumference at one year (Z-score < - 2, RR 4·9(2·9-5·6)) increased the risk of NDI. In this sub-Saharan African population, death and neurodevelopmental disability after NE were common. CP was associated with sensorineural impairment, malnutrition, seizures and high mortality by 2 years. Early clinical parameters predicted impairment outcomes.