Development of flexor spastic signs in preterm infants.
Fifty-five preterm infants with birthweights between 800 and 2000g and gestational ages between 25 and 33 weeks were repeatedly examined for the Rossolimo and Mendel-Bechterew lower-limb reflexes. Up to 34 weeks conceptional age (CA) an abduction-extension pattern was characteristic. Between 34 and 36 weeks CA the response changed to one implying flexor spasticity, which in some cases lasted throughout the first postnatal trimester. It is thought that this response occurring around 34 to 38 weeks CA is a sign of normal developmental maturation. On the other hand, an extension-abduction response after 38 weeks CA and a flexor response after the first trimester is indicative of delayed motor development and might suggest an upper motor neuron lesion.
D001724:Birth Weight; D001835:Body Weight; D002657:Child Development; D005260:Female; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature; D008297:Male; D009128:Muscle Spasticity / Q000503:physiopathology*