Higher cerebral palsy risk in late pre-term babies

By Will Dunham

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Babies born four to six weeks prematurely have more than triple the risk of developing cerebral palsy than full-term babies, U.S. researchers said on Thursday.

The study focused on the specific serious neurological problems associated with late pre-term births -- babies born between 34 and 36 weeks of pregnancy. Increasing numbers of these babies are being born in the United States.

Researchers led by Joann Petrini, an epidemiologist with the March of Dimes advocacy group, tracked 141,321 babies born between 2000 and 2004 in the United States.

The late pre-term babies were about 3.4 times as likely to develop cerebral palsy as full-term babies. They also were about 25 percent more likely to develop learning, speech and other developmental delays and mental retardation as full-term babies, according to the study.

Cerebral palsy refers to a group of disorders that affect a child's ability to coordinate body movements. Symptoms range from mild to severe and may include lack of muscle coordination, stiff muscles and exaggerated reflexes, walking problems, drooling and tremors.

It is incurable and frequently requires long-term care. Other neurological problems including mental retardation or seizures may appear in children who have cerebral palsy.

About 800,000 children and adults in the United States have cerebral palsy, according to the March of Dimes.

"We know that very pre-term babies have higher rates of cerebral palsy from existing research, but this paper shows that even the late pre-term babies are three times as likely to be diagnosed with cerebral palsy as full-term babies," Petrini said in a telephone interview.