Perinatal infection is an important risk factor for cerebral palsy in very-low-birthweight infants.

Sixty-nine very-low-birthweight infants out of a population of 923 had cerebral palsy (CP) at an 18-month follow-up. Thirty-nine of these had cranial ultrasound abnormalities in the neonatal period and 30 had normal cranial ultrasounds. The distribution of subtypes of CP differed markedly between the two groups, with hemiplegia predominating in those with abnormal cranial ultrasounds and diplegia in those with normal cranial ultrasounds. Regardless of ultrasound appearance, the relative risk of CP increased approximately fourfold with a neonatal history of sepsis.