Unique index at birth predicts disability at 4 years of age / Fetal Growth determines preschool performance (FOTO)

Bochum (ots) -

RUB-Medics: "Growth retardation at birth is a prime predictor of
poor developmental performance at preschool age."

Bochum's medics have discovered a unique method based on growth
and vitality to detect babies at high-risk for infantile brain
dysfunction that urgently need early intervention to improve school
and educational success even without knowledge of brain imaging
results. They prospectively screened over 5,000 newborns by cranial
ultrasound and examined those with brain damage and the controls by
testing intelligence (IQ), Maze test, and neurologic function at 4
years of age in a matched-pair design. The key result is that simple
measurements at birth like weight, length, head circumference, body
proportionality, and vitality at 10 minutes (Apgar) have a strong
predictive capacity for preschool developmental performance and
disability (pDDI). "For us, this is a solid basis for early
intervention strategies employing active rehabilitation and
cell-based therapies that are currently being developed and most
effective when given early. Due to the plasticity of the young brain,
early onset individualized support by families, health care systems,
and authorities involved in preschool and school education would
maximize the benefit for the infants to lead a normal and productive
life within society," says Prof. Dr. Arne Jensen of the Campus Clinic
Gynecology at the Ruhr-University Bochum. Together with his
colleagues Prof. Dr. Gerhard Neuhäuser, and Dr. Kai-Ole Jensen, MD,
he reports in the journal "Annals of Pediatrics" http://ots.de/6utrzB

An individual cell treatment of neonatal stroke led the way

In a recent publication on cell-based therapy of pediatric stroke
& brain plasticity and a database search that revealed that head
circumference at birth is highly predictive for brain damage in both
growth retarded and large term-born infants, the significance of
birth variables for prediction became clear. "We realised how
important simple measurements at birth are to predict the infants
future developmental trajectory because this enables us to
orchestrate early intervention strategies that take full advantage of
the plasticity of the brain when the babies are young", Prof. Arne
Jensen recalls. "To account for medical care standards in rural areas
and/or developing countries where cranial ultrasound may not be
available, we then developed a Morphometric vitality index (MVI),
based on growth and birth variables, only, to predict preschool
psychomotor performance in individual children without knowledge of
cranial ultrasound results."

Links:

Open Access original publication: J Stem Cell Res Transplant - Volume
6 Issue 1 - 2019
ISSN : 2381-9065 |
http://www.campus-klinik-bochum.de/pdf/app-6-19.pdf
Open Access original publication:
https://www.hindawi.com/journals/ogi/2018/2120835/

Contact:
Prof. Dr. med. Arne Jensen, Ruhr-University Bochum, Campus
Clinic Gynecology, Universitätsstr. 140, 44799 Bochum, Germany
Telefon +49 234/588196-0
arne.jensen@ruhr-uni-bochum.de

Original-Content von: Campus Klinik an der Ruhr-Universität Bochum, übermittelt durch news aktuell