Neurological Assessment of the Preterm and Full-term Newborn Infant

Includes the Hammersmith Neonatal Neurological Examination

This is the second edition of the manual for this popular and practical tool for the clinical neurological examination of the newborn. It provides a copiously illustrated, step-by-step guide to performing the examination, and greatly extends its uses and potential applications.

• A quick, simplified version of the examination has been added, suitable for use by inexperienced staff and for mass screening programmes.
• Now extended well beyond the neonatal period.
• A new section correlates clinical patterns of neurological findings with the corresponding imaging in newborn infants with brain lesions.
• For researchers, there is a new section explaining in detail the development of an ‘optimality score’ as a means of quantifying data.

The book provides a review of the state of the art of neurological assessment in the first two years of life and identifies the most appropriate instruments for the follow-up of newborns who are at risk of developing neurological abnormalities. After a brief description of the neurophysiological basis of development in the first years, the book provides a comprehensive review of the various methods used for the neurological assessment in young infants describing how a combined approach of clinical and instrumental investigations can provide important diagnostic and prognostic information.

The first part of the book describes the most used clinical neurological examinations and their applications in infants with neurological abnormalities, followed by a description of the value of neuroimaging and neurophysiological techniques in normal preterm and full term infants in the first two years and the main types of abnormal MR findings of neurophysiological findings (EEG and evoked potentials) in relation to brain lesions. Other sections include chapters describing techniques assessing specific aspects of cognitive, perceptual and sensory abilities. Special attention is given to hearing, language and communication and to development of vision and visual attention both in normal infants and in those with neonatal brain lesions. The final chapters are devoted to intervention, describing how the identification of specific profiles of impairment can lead to the development of appropriate plans of early intervention.

Downloads

The purchase of this book will include downloadable examination proformas updated 2017:

1. The Hammersmith Neonatal Neurological Examination
2. The Hammersmith Infant Neurological Examination

Clinics in Developmental Medicine No. 148

Authors’ Appointments Preface to the Second Edition Introduction to the First Edition 1. Historical Review 2. Evolution of the Present Neurological Scheme and its Applications 3. The Neurological Assessment 4. The Neurological Profile of Normal Preterm and Term Infants 5. The Term Infant: Development of an Optimality Score 6. The Neurological Examination in Preterm and Term Infants with Brain Lesions 7. Adaptation of the Neurological Proforma 8. References