Hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy developmental outcome at 12 years.

This study was done to determine the mental and motor development and developmental psychopathology problems at 12 years of age, among term babies with hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) at birth. 48 children with HIE at birth were assessed at 12 years of age, to find out the developmental status. Among 41 children, who had grade I HIE at birth, 15 (36 %) had normal intelligence and only 4 (9.8%) had mental retardation. Among the rest of 7 babies who had grade 2 and 3 HIE, 2 children had mental retardation, 3 had borderline IQ and 2 had low average IQ. Hyperkinesis (23%) and somatic disorders (17%) were the commonest developmental psychopathology problems among all the three grades of HIE together. There was also an increased incidence of visual abnormality, cerebral palsy and various psychopathology problems in children who had grade 2 and 3 HIE.