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Neurological Examination of the Newborn Infant

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Neonatology

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Abstract

A simple neurological screening examination should be performed on all term and preterm newborn infants, as part of the general medical examination. A full comprehensive neurological examination (NE) of the newborn infant should fulfill diagnostic and prognostic aims. As far as diagnosis is concerned, the NE needs to assess the severity of the acute (or subacute) brain dysfunction and to select those babies who may benefit from therapeutic hypothermia; the cooled newborn babies need to be assessed with serial NE during the first days after birth. As to the prognostic power of NE, repeated longitudinal assessment is needed in order to depict a developmental trajectory that better predicts the developmental outcome. The NE available for preterm and term newborn infants are discussed in relation to their peculiarities and strengths.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences of the Mother, Children and Adults, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy

    Fabrizio Ferrari

  2. Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences of the Mother, Children and Adults, University Hospital of Modena, Modena, Italy

    Licia Lugli, Luca Ori, Elisa della Casa, Isotta Guidotti, Natascia Bertoncelli & Laura Lucaccioni

Authors
  1. Fabrizio Ferrari
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  2. Licia Lugli
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  3. Luca Ori
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  4. Elisa della Casa
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  5. Isotta Guidotti
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  6. Natascia Bertoncelli
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  7. Laura Lucaccioni
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Fabrizio Ferrari .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatrics Obstetrics and Reproductive Medicine, University of Siena, Siena, Italy

    Giuseppe Buonocore

  2. Department of Pediatrics Obstetrics and Reproductive Medicine, University of Siena, Siena, Italy

    Rodolfo Bracci

  3. Liverpool Women’s Hospital Neonatal Unit, Liverpool, UK

    Michael Weindling

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Ferrari, F. et al. (2018). Neurological Examination of the Newborn Infant. In: Buonocore, G., Bracci, R., Weindling, M. (eds) Neonatology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-29489-6_267

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-29489-6_267

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-29487-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-29489-6

  • eBook Packages: MedicineReference Module Medicine

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