[Severely handicapped children and its relationship with perinatal medical care].

We studied the etiology for sixty-eight severely handicapped children aged between 3 and 6 years, who were born in the Himeji city and the environs (9,900 live births/year). The prevalence was around 1.7/1,000 live births. The factors of their handicaps were as follows: congenital 25%; perinatal 40%; neonatal period 21%; and unknown onset 15%. Thirty-six patients out of 54 (67%) were admitted to neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and visited the Center for neurological follow up immediately after their discharge. The high frequency of patients from NICU, compared with previous reports, might be due to a cooperative network between NICUs and the Center with medical support for handicapped children in this area.