Denver developmental screening test II for early identification of the infants who will develop major neurological deficit as a sequalea of hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy.
BACKGROUND
The primary aim of this study was to find widely available, inexpensive, and non-invasive parameters for early identification or prediction of the infants with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) who will have a severe adverse outcome (classified as death or a major neurological deficit).


METHODS
Fifty-seven full-term or near-term newborn infants with a diagnosis of HIE were consecutively admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit and studied. Occurrence of seizures during the first 24 h, cranial ultrasonography (US) findings within the first 5 days of life, and Denver developmental screening test II (DDST II) at 6 months of age, were analyzed in relation to mortality and neurological status at 2 years of age.


RESULTS
Of the 57 infants, 10 were lost to follow-up. Twenty of the remaining 47 infants had a severe adverse outcome. Among the predictors of severe adverse outcome, occurrence of seizures was found to have a poor predictive accuracy. Cranial US had 100% sensitivity, however with a rather low specificity (55%). However, DDST II at 6 months of age, yielded a very high predictive accuracy (sensitivity=100%, specificity=95%).


CONCLUSIONS
We conclude that DDST II at 6 months of age could be used in predicting severe neurological outcome in infants with HIE.
Hallioglu
O
O
Mersin University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Mersin, Turkey. ohallioglu@mersin.edu.tr
Topaloglu
A K
AK
Zenciroglu
A
A
Duzovali
O
O
Yilgor
E
E
Saribas
S
S
D002658:Developmental Disabilities / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology; D004453:Echoencephalography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D020925:Hypoxia-Ischemia, Brain / Q000150:complications*; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening; D009422:Nervous System Diseases / Q000209:etiology*; D011379:Prognosis; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity