Medical Malpractice Lawyers

Cleveland Birth Injury Attorney: Infant Head Circumference and the Risk of Cerebral Palsy

Birth injury attorneys in Cleveland, get asked this all of the time: what should pregnant mothers be most concerned about when it comes to increased birth injury risk?

A recent German study points to large head circumference in full-term newborns as a risk factor for both brain damage and cerebral palsy.

The study, “White Matter Damage in 4,725 Term-Born Infants Is Determined by Head Circumference at Birth: The Missing Link,” was published in the journal Obstetrics and Gynecology International.

Science has long known that injuries to the white matter of the brain put the baby at risk for cerebral palsy, but now it has found that head size greatly increases the risk of those injuries.

Re-examined Data, New Discoveries

A recent study re-examined previous data that included cranial ultrasound screenings of 4,725 term-born infants (born 37-43 weeks gestation) taken from the first day of birth to day 30. They created a data index included weight, length, and head circumference and found that head size was the greatest risk indicator.

“By using MMI for white matter damage assessment, unremarkable term-born infants presenting an MMI >90% and <10% centile now can be selected for head imaging as a standard of care to provide a cost-effective basis for potentially curative treatments such as autologous cord blood mononuclear cells…,” the researchers wrote.

“We propose that prospective risk management should routinely include sonographic monitoring of head circumference rather than biparietal diameter during late pregnancy, though perhaps technically difficult, to prevent prolonged labor and hence increased the risk for white matter damage in babies beyond 75% centile,” they added.