Testing the Causative Criteria for Cerebral Palsy

The Task Force on Neonatal Encephalopathy and Cerebral Palsy has developed criteria for establishing whether a particular acute intrapartum hypoxic event is sufficient to cause cerebral palsy. (Criteria include evidence of fetal metabolic acidosis, neonatal encephalopathy in infants born at ≥34 weeks' gestation, spastic quadriplegic or dyskinetic cerebral palsy, and exclusion of other etiologies.) To determine the sensitivity of these criteria, researchers conducted a descriptive study using medical-record data from a U.S. registry of neurologically impaired term neonates who had experienced sudden, sustained deterioration of fetal heart rate. Eligibility also required documentation of umbilical arterial blood gas at birth; thus, only 39 of…