Neonatal encephalopathy: etiology and outcome

The original study by Badawi et al. investigated risk factors for neonatal encephalopathy (NE) and/or neonatal seizures in term infants. They used a broad definition appropriate for examining etiology and capable of asking such questions as: what proportion of NE arises after birth asphyxia? The answer was: some, but not much. That study was, and still is, the only large population-based investigation of multiple potential risk factors for NE, and it identified novel risk factors such as maternal thyroid disease, family history of seizures, and placental abnormalities. Several of these factors have been found to be risk factors for NE, neonatal seizures, or cerebral palsy (CP) in other studies.