2009 Volume 55 Issue 1 Pages 27-33
During the fetal and early neonatal periods, optimal nutrition is very important because nutrients regulate brain development ; therefore, an undernourished and/or malnourished status influences not only physical development, but also central nervous system development in the fetal and early neonatal periods. Recently, some studies have indicated that postnatal growth is significant for neurodevelopment in later life ; postnatal growth restriction is closely associated developmental delay. Neonatal EEG is a powerful, non-invasive tool for the assessment of brain maturation as well as brain insult in preterm infants. In particular, serial EEG recordings beginning immediately after birth are useful to elucidate the pathogenesis in very preterm infants. We evaluated electrophysiological maturation in infants with intrauterine growth restriction and extrauterine growth restriction using serial EEG recordings immediately after birth. The findings indicated that delayed electrophysiological maturation was associated with postnatal undernourishment and postnatal physical growth restriction. Many studies have been conducted to clarify the relation between under/malnourished states and neurological sequelae. Serial neonatal EEG recordings might be useful tools to elucidate the pathophysiology of brain damage in infants with under/malnourishment.
