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Maternal signs of chorioamnionitis: Persistent cognitive impairment in low‐birthweight children
Author(s) -
Versland Lene B.,
Sommerfelt Kristian,
Elgen Irene
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
acta pædiatrica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.772
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1651-2227
pISSN - 0803-5253
DOI - 10.1111/j.1651-2227.2006.tb02212.x
Subject(s) - medicine , cerebral palsy , chorioamnionitis , pediatrics , low birth weight , wechsler adult intelligence scale , population , wechsler preschool and primary scale of intelligence , intelligence quotient , cognition , gestational age , pregnancy , wechsler intelligence scale for children , physical therapy , psychiatry , environmental health , biology , genetics
Aim: To examine whether chorioamnionitis (CA) is associated with long‐term cognitive impairment in low‐birthweight (LBW) children without major handicaps such as cerebral palsy. Methods: Population‐based long‐term follow‐up study at 11 y of age of 130 LBW children with birthweight less than 2000 g, without major handicaps. Thirteen children with maternal signs of clinical CA were compared with the 117 LBW children without. Main outcome measure was psychometric intelligence, assessed using four subscales from the Norwegian version of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children – Revised. Results: Mean performance IQ for the LBW children with maternal signs of CA (89, SD 13) was significantly lower compared to the other LBW children (98, SD 16) at 11 y of age (difference of mean 10, 95% CI of difference 0.4 to 19, p =0.04). Conclusion: Maternal chorioamnionitis, known to be associated with an increased frequency of cerebral palsy, may have lasting negative consequences for fetal brain development, resulting in long‐term cognitive impairments, even when major handicaps such as cerebral palsy are absent.