Antenatal and perinatal antecedents of moderate and severe spastic cerebral palsy.

Routinely collected perinatal morbidity data were abstracted for 204 cases of moderate and severe spastic cerebral palsy and 816 matched controls. Separate analyses were conducted for cases with birth-weight > or = 2,500 g and birth-weight < 2,500 g. The presence of a congenital abnormality was an important risk factor for cerebral palsy in both groups and further analyses were conducted after dividing the groups according to presence or absence of a congenital abnormality. In the < 2,500 g group, resuscitation needed was clearly identified as a risk factor for cerebral palsy in the group with no congenital abnormalities (adjusted OR=3.4; 95% CI=1.6-7.5) while in the group with congenital abnormalities, none of the risk factors were clearly associated with an increased risk of cerebral palsy. Among the cases with birth-weight > or = 2,500 g, intrauterine hypoxia/birth asphyxia was clearly associated with an increased risk of cerebral palsy (adjusted OR=18.1; 95% CI=1.8-186) in the group with no congenital abnormalities while in the group with congenital abnormalities, none of the factors were clearly associated with an increased risk of cerebral palsy.