Assessing Intellectual and Motor Outcomes in High-risk Infants

Summary

Cerebral palsy (CP) is a condition when a baby has a brain injury that affects their movement and muscle tone. Some people with CP can have other developmental issues, like learning impairments, but many do not and have isolated issues with their motor skills. Some newborns are at higher risk of developing CP, including babies born prematurely, those who have an injury to their brain, and those who have an abnormal neurological examination. However, most babies with a higher risk of CP do not develop CP. The problem is that doctors can't tell early on who will and who will not develop CP, they can only say who has a risk of it. Therefore, these babies are followed up in out-patient clinics to see how they are progressing, usually by a neonatologist (baby doctor), often a physiotherapist, and some may also be referred to services in the community like the Early Intervention Team. If there is a significant concern, doctors will often perform a scan of the baby's brain to provide more information. Even with all this follow-up, it still usually takes at least 12 months, and can be up to 2 years, to diagnose a child as having CP.

In this study the aim is to try and reduce the age of diagnosis of CP by assessing children in high-risk out-patient clinics using novel and specific examinations. We would also like to improve our ability to predict who will need help with learning, language or other non-motor outcomes. This study is being conducted at several hospitals in Ireland, including Cork University Maternity Hospital (CUMH), The Rotunda Hospital and the Coombe Women and Infants Hospital. It is being coordinated by the In4kids network and will be conducted in the INFANT Centre/ University College Cork (UCC). The study has been funded by Research Ireland and the Cerebral Palsy Foundation, USA.

Conditions

• Cerebral Palsy
• Cerebral Palsy (CP)
• Cerebral Palsy Children
• High-risk Infants
• Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities
• Motor Impairment
• Cognitive Development
• HIE - Hypoxic - Ischemic Encephalopathy
• Preterm
• Prematurity; Extreme

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Coombe Women and Infants University Hospital

  collaborator OTHER

• The Rotunda Hospital

  collaborator OTHER

• Cerebral Palsy Foundation

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• Karolinska Institutet

  collaborator OTHER

• University of Pisa

  collaborator OTHER

• Göteborg University

  collaborator OTHER

• University College Cork

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Deirdre M Murray · INFANT Research Centre, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland

Eligibility

Min Age

0 Days

Max Age

4 Months

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2025-03-21

Primary Completion

2030-07-31

Completion

2030-07-31

Countries

• Ireland

Study Locations