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Most evidence suggests that newborns who have early respiratory distress and do not show signs of neonatal encephalopathy after resuscitation are not at elevated risk for future neurological impairment. However, a recent study found low IQ in 18-year-old men who had had low Apgar scores, but not encephalopathy, at birth. To further examine whether mild neonatal hypoxia leads to subtle cognitive deficits later in life, investigators studied 5953 singleton infants enrolled in a British cohort study who were born after 36 weeks’ gestation and underwent IQ assessment 8 years later.
Of 426 children who had been resuscitated (requiring positive pressure respiratory support or cardiac compressions) at birth, 26 had symptoms of encephalopathy (defin…