title: Correlating birthweight with neurological severity of obstetric brachial plexus lesions.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the nature and extent of neurosurgically treated obstetric plexus lesions with obstetric and neonatal precedents.
  
  
  METHODS
  Retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data.
  
  
  METHODS
  Leiden, the Netherlands.
  
  
  METHODS
  A 9-year cohort of infants (n = 206) neurosurgically treated for obstetric brachial plexus lesion at a tertiary referral centre for nerve lesions.
  
  
  METHODS
  Obstetric and neonatal data (parity, diabetic status, pregnancy gestation, mode of cephalic delivery and birthweight) were collected using a standardised protocol and correlated to neurological severity of the brachial plexus lesion.
  
  
  METHODS
  Neurological severity of the brachial plexus lesion.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Nulliparous women delivered significantly lower birthweight newborns (P = 0.016), injuries in those infants were associated with the least severe injury classification. The most prominent association in ordinal logistic regression was between neurological injury severity and larger birthweight (P < 0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Birthweight is correlated with neurological severity of the injury in a group of infants experiencing brachial plexus injury resulting from cephalic vaginal delivery.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Leiden University Medical Centre, Leiden, the Netherlands. w.pondaag@lumc.nl
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Pondaag
authors.forename: R H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Allen
authors.forename: M J A
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Malessy
mesh_terms: D001720:Birth Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000601:surgery; D001724:Birth Weight; D001917:Brachial Plexus / Q000293:injuries* / Q000601:surgery; D020516:Brachial Plexus Neuropathies / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000601:surgery; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D015601:Injury Severity Score; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D009426:Netherlands / Q000453:epidemiology; D009460:Neurologic Examination; D010298:Parity; D011247:Pregnancy; D012189:Retrospective Studies