[Hypoxic-ischemic brain damage in the newborn]

The condition referred to as "birth asphyxia" occurs as the result of a hypoxic-ischaemic insult during the process of labour and delivery. There is no standard clinical definition for birth asphyxia, but its incidence in term infants has been differently reported to be between 2.9 and 9.0 cases per 1000 deliveries. In term infants the risk of death appeared to be closely related to the duration that the Apgar score is severely depressed. The best predictor of disability in surviving infants is abnormal neurological behavior in the neonatal period referred to as hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy. Unfortunately, there are no generally accepted treatment regimens for birth asphyxia and traditional methods for treating hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy have not been shown to improve outcome.