Neonatal hypoxic and ischemic brain injury

Definition

A rare neonatal encephalopathy characterized by alterations in mental status ranging from irritability and decreased responsiveness to coma, as well as abnormal primitive reflexes, hypotonia, seizures, and abnormalities in feeding and respiration, with an onset within the first hours of life. The condition is associated with high mortality. Long-term sequelae include a spectrum of signs and symptoms including behavioral deficits, developmental delay, learning disabilities, cognitive impairment, seizures, visual and auditory dysfunction, and cerebral palsy.