Cranial ultrasound as a complementary method to the general movements assessment in preterm infants for predicting the neurological outcome - a single center experience
Introduction/Objective. Implementing cranial ultrasound (CUS) into daily clinical practice represents a major advance in the diagnosis and treatment of newborns. Preterm birth is considered a risk factor for abnormal neurological development. The study aimed to evaluate the significance of CUS in pr...
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Serbian Medical Society
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Srpski Arhiv za Celokupno Lekarstvo |
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| Online Access: | https://doiserbia.nb.rs/img/doi/0370-8179/2025/0370-81792500046Z.pdf |
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| author | Zlatanović Dragan Čolović Hristina Živković Vesna Stanković Anita Kostić Milica Pejčić Vuk Radovanović Vukota |
| author_facet | Zlatanović Dragan Čolović Hristina Živković Vesna Stanković Anita Kostić Milica Pejčić Vuk Radovanović Vukota |
| author_sort | Zlatanović Dragan |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Introduction/Objective. Implementing cranial ultrasound (CUS) into daily clinical practice represents a major advance in the diagnosis and treatment of newborns. Preterm birth is considered a risk factor for abnormal neurological development. The study aimed to evaluate the significance of CUS in preterm infants as a complementary method to the General Movements Assessment for predicting neurological outcomes. The study focused on a cohort of infants without significant neonatal morbidity. Methods. The study included 160 preterm infants and was designed as a prospective clinical study. Statistical analysis included cranial ultrasound findings and the assessment of spontaneous motor activity in the first five days after birth (“Writhing” period), perinatal data, and pregnancy data. Results. There was a statistically significant association between abnormal CUS findings and cerebral palsy in the final neurological outcome (p < 0.001). Pathological CUS findings were significantly more frequent in preterm infants born before 30 weeks of gestation (p < 0.001), those delivered by cesarean section (p < 0.001), and infants with an Apgar score < 8 at one and five minutes (p < 0.001). The specificity of a normal CUS was 86% but increased to 100% when combined with a normal General Movements Assessment. Conclusion. This research confirms that CUS can be a valuable tool for predicting neurological outcomes in preterm infants. It can provide data that can guide the judicious use of different monitoring methods and rationalize their examinations. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-bb4d953b507e48cfb8c645d9167fb7ca |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 0370-8179 2406-0895 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Serbian Medical Society |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Srpski Arhiv za Celokupno Lekarstvo |
| spelling | doaj-art-bb4d953b507e48cfb8c645d9167fb7ca2025-08-20T03:58:44ZengSerbian Medical SocietySrpski Arhiv za Celokupno Lekarstvo0370-81792406-08952025-01-011535-626527110.2298/SARH250428046Z0370-81792500046ZCranial ultrasound as a complementary method to the general movements assessment in preterm infants for predicting the neurological outcome - a single center experienceZlatanović Dragan0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5526-5637Čolović Hristina1Živković Vesna2Stanković Anita3Kostić Milica4Pejčić Vuk5https://orcid.org/0009-0002-5473-167XRadovanović Vukota6https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8601-2464University of Niš, Faculty of Medicine, Department for Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Niš, Serbia + Niš University Clinical Centre, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Clinic, Niš, SerbiaUniversity of Niš, Faculty of Medicine, Department for Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Niš, Serbia + Niš University Clinical Centre, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Clinic, Niš, SerbiaUniversity of Niš, Faculty of Medicine, Department for Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Niš, Serbia + Niš University Clinical Centre, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Clinic, Niš, SerbiaNiš University Clinical Centre, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Clinic, Niš, SerbiaNiš University Clinical Centre, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Clinic, Niš, SerbiaNiš University Clinical Centre, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Clinic, Niš, SerbiaNiš University Clinical Centre, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Clinic, Niš, SerbiaIntroduction/Objective. Implementing cranial ultrasound (CUS) into daily clinical practice represents a major advance in the diagnosis and treatment of newborns. Preterm birth is considered a risk factor for abnormal neurological development. The study aimed to evaluate the significance of CUS in preterm infants as a complementary method to the General Movements Assessment for predicting neurological outcomes. The study focused on a cohort of infants without significant neonatal morbidity. Methods. The study included 160 preterm infants and was designed as a prospective clinical study. Statistical analysis included cranial ultrasound findings and the assessment of spontaneous motor activity in the first five days after birth (“Writhing” period), perinatal data, and pregnancy data. Results. There was a statistically significant association between abnormal CUS findings and cerebral palsy in the final neurological outcome (p < 0.001). Pathological CUS findings were significantly more frequent in preterm infants born before 30 weeks of gestation (p < 0.001), those delivered by cesarean section (p < 0.001), and infants with an Apgar score < 8 at one and five minutes (p < 0.001). The specificity of a normal CUS was 86% but increased to 100% when combined with a normal General Movements Assessment. Conclusion. This research confirms that CUS can be a valuable tool for predicting neurological outcomes in preterm infants. It can provide data that can guide the judicious use of different monitoring methods and rationalize their examinations.https://doiserbia.nb.rs/img/doi/0370-8179/2025/0370-81792500046Z.pdfpreterm infantscranial ultrasoundgeneral movementsprehtl's methodneurodevelopmental outcome |
| spellingShingle | Zlatanović Dragan Čolović Hristina Živković Vesna Stanković Anita Kostić Milica Pejčić Vuk Radovanović Vukota Cranial ultrasound as a complementary method to the general movements assessment in preterm infants for predicting the neurological outcome - a single center experience Srpski Arhiv za Celokupno Lekarstvo preterm infants cranial ultrasound general movements prehtl's method neurodevelopmental outcome |
| title | Cranial ultrasound as a complementary method to the general movements assessment in preterm infants for predicting the neurological outcome - a single center experience |
| title_full | Cranial ultrasound as a complementary method to the general movements assessment in preterm infants for predicting the neurological outcome - a single center experience |
| title_fullStr | Cranial ultrasound as a complementary method to the general movements assessment in preterm infants for predicting the neurological outcome - a single center experience |
| title_full_unstemmed | Cranial ultrasound as a complementary method to the general movements assessment in preterm infants for predicting the neurological outcome - a single center experience |
| title_short | Cranial ultrasound as a complementary method to the general movements assessment in preterm infants for predicting the neurological outcome - a single center experience |
| title_sort | cranial ultrasound as a complementary method to the general movements assessment in preterm infants for predicting the neurological outcome a single center experience |
| topic | preterm infants cranial ultrasound general movements prehtl's method neurodevelopmental outcome |
| url | https://doiserbia.nb.rs/img/doi/0370-8179/2025/0370-81792500046Z.pdf |
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