Early predictors of neurodevelopmental outcome of very low-birthweight infants at three years.

Seventy-nine premature infants weighting less than 1501 g at birth but appropriate for gestational age underwent a neurodevelopmental examination at one, three, six, nine and 12 months post-term, and a standard neurological examination and the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale at three to four years of age. Children were classified as normal, suspect or abnormal on the three-year neurological examination, on the IQ test, and on composite neurodevelopmental outcome at age three years. Results showed that items from both the nine- and 12-month neurodevelopmental examinations correctly classified about 80 per cent of the children as to composite outcome at three years. In addition, the 12-month examination enabled correct prediction for 89 per cent of the children as to neurological outcome and for 82 per cent as to IQ. Neurodevelopmental examination of high-risk infants in the last quarter of the first year of life (post-term) should assist pediatricians in predicting which children will be normal and which will require early intervention.