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Updated: Jun 19, 2026

Assessment and Evaluation of the High Risk Neonate: The NICU Network Neurobehavioral Scale
Published on: August 25, 2014
Neurological congenital malformations in a tertiary hospital in south Brazil
Ana Guardiola1, Vanessa Koltermann, Paula Musa Aguiar
1Federal University Foundation of Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil. guardiola@cpovo.net
Background:
Congenital anomalies are one of the main causes of morbidity and mortality among infants. The involvement of the central nervous system (CNS) occurs in 21% of cases.
Objective:
To identify incidence of CNS malformations and associated factors in newborns at a Terciary Hospital of Porto Alegre.
Method:
Case-control study conducted between 2000 and 2005 based on the Latin American Collaborative Study of Congenital Malformations database.
Results:
Among 26,588 births registered in this period, 3.67% presented with malformations (IC=95%; 3.44-3.9), being 0.36% of the CNS (IC=95%,(0.29-0.43)). The most common CNS malformation was meningomielocele (10.4%). Young maternal age (p=0.005); low birth weight (p=0.015); large cephalic perimeter (p=0.003); post term birth (p=0.000) and low APGAR indexes at the 1st and 5th minutes were associated with CNS malformations.
Conclusion:
We found an incidence of CNS malformations similar as compared to literature.
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