A Prospective Autopsy Study Of Morphological Central Nervous System Changes In Birth-Asphyxiated Babies In Ibadan, Nigeria

📄 Project Abstract

Birth asphyxia is the third major cause of neonatal death after infections and preterm births in developing countries, but there have been no previous post-mortem studies to document the morphological central nervous system changes among babies with birth asphyxia in this environment AIM: To determine morphological patterns of central nervous system changes following birth asphyxia and to ascertain the proportional mortality of neonatal deaths due to birth asphyxia. METHODS: Fifty cases including foetuses that were stillborn and neonates with Apgar score of less than 7 at 5 minutes that subsequently died during the neonatal period between January 2006 and February 2007 were autopsied. The gender, gestational age, weight, crown-heel length, the booking status of the mothers and the underlying clinical condition were noted. The gross and microscopic central nervous system changes were documented. These indices were subjected to statistical analysis using Chi-square test. RESULTS: The maj...