Abstract :
Keywords Preterm; Infant; 'General Movement Assessment'; 'Lacey Assessment Preterm Infants'; GMA; LAPI; 'Cerebral palsy'; 'CP'; Cranial ultrasound Highlights * Despite the high accuracy of GMA for prediction of CP, its use has not yet been widely adopted into routine neonatal follow-up * We confirm that the GMA has a high accuracy for predicting a diagnosis of CP at 2 years corrected age * The clinical relevance of a 'sporadic fidgety' movements' classification needs to be viewed with caution * Clinicians should be mindful about the purpose and timing of cUS when counselling parents. Abstract Background and aim The LAPI, cUS and GMA are assessments used clinically in the UK to identify preterm infants at high risk of neurodevelopmental disabilities such as cerebral palsy. This study investigated the ability of these assessments to predict cerebral palsy at 2 years corrected gestational age. Methods Design: Prospective longitudinal cohort study including infants born Results There were 123 eligible infants and 95 infants (77.2%) were included. Thirteen infants (13.7%) had a diagnosis of CP at 2 years. There was no significant difference in gestational age, gender, or birth weight between the groups with and without a diagnosis of CP. The highest accuracy of prediction of CP was achieved by an aberrant, absent fidgety general movements classification with a sensitivity of 92.3% and specificity of 98.9%. Combining the GMA to include the cUS or LAPI did not increase the predictive accuracy. Conclusion The GMA when undertaken in clinical practice had high accuracy for predicting CP at 2 years corrected age in infants born Author Affiliation: (a) Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (NuTH), Newcastle Neonatal Service, Ward 35 Leazes Wing, Royal Victoria Infirmary, Richardson Road, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 4LP, England, UK (b) Newcastle University, Population Health Sciences Institute, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Level 3 Sir James Spence Institute (Child Health), Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 4LP, UK (c) Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Department of Paediatric Neurology, Great North Childrens Hospital, Queen Victoria Road, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 4LP, UK * Corresponding author at: Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (NuTH), Newcastle Neonatal Service, Ward 35 Leazes Wing, Royal Victoria Infirmary, Richardson Road, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 4LP, England, UK. Article History: Received 9 December 2021; Revised 13 May 2022; Accepted 18 May 2022 Byline: Claire Marcroft [claire.marcroft@newcastle.ac.uk] (a,b,*), Patricia Dulson (a), Jennifer Dixon (a), Nicholas Embleton (a,b), Anna Purna Basu (b,c)