Medline ® Abstract for Reference 71

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the nature and extent of neurosurgically treated obstetric plexus lesions with obstetric and neonatal precedents.

DESIGN: Retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data.

SETTING: Leiden, the Netherlands.

POPULATION: A 9-year cohort of infants (n = 206) neurosurgically treated for obstetric brachial plexus lesion at a tertiary referral centre for nerve lesions.

METHOD: Obstetric and neonatal data (parity, diabetic status, pregnancy gestation, mode of cephalic delivery and birthweight) were collected using a standardised protocol and correlated to neurological severity of the brachial plexus lesion.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Neurological severity of the brachial plexus lesion.

RESULTS: Nulliparous women delivered significantly lower birthweight newborns (P = 0.016), injuries in those infants were associated with the least severe injury classification. The most prominent association in ordinal logistic regression was between neurological injury severity and larger birthweight (P<0.001).

CONCLUSIONS: Birthweight is correlated with neurological severity of the injury in a group of infants experiencing brachial plexus injury resulting from cephalic vaginal delivery.