Preterm neonatal neurological examination

This chapter covers the purposes for which a neurological examination of a neonate may be performed. A brief description is given, of assessments currently in use. More extensive information is provided on the elements of the Neurobehavioral Assessment of the Preterm Infant (NAPI), an assessment which has been used extensively by this author and others (see references at www-med.stanford.edu/school/pediatrics/NAPI/index). Medical and environmental factors that impact on the neurobehavioral performance of an infant are outlined. Two detailed case studies give insight to the complexity of the initial hospital stay of extremely low birth weight infants of short gestational age. The results of NAPIs for each of these cases are explained and the relation to long term outcome at 18 months is presented.