[Psychomotor development of newborn infants at risk with reference to the neuron-specific enolase]

In a prospective study the psychomotor development of an unselected collective of risk newborn infants up to the end of the second year of life was examined. 199 children have developed normal, 21 showed developmental abnormalities, 84 light to moderate disturbances, and 30 severe disabilities. Already in the newborn period the concentration of neuron-specific enolase in the serum was evaluated. The NSE could be an indicator of brain damage. The determined values of NSE showed a log-normal-distribution at the three times (cord-blood, first or second day of life, third or fourth day of life, and ninth to eleventh day of life). Significant relationship between the psychomotor development during the first two years of life and of NSE-concentration was not found. Nevertheless the diagnostic value of the NSE is better with a specificity of 47.7% and a sensitivity of 80.0% than those of the results of intracranial ultrasound examination or of the erythrocytic-density-test. In contrast to these results the use of the neuron-specific enolase alone for the prediction of individual prognosis of children is not be recommended.