Brain and Behavioural Maturation in Newborn Infants of Diabetic Mothers1– Part I: Nerve conduction and EEG patterns2

Abstract

Infants of diabetic mothers were compared with normal neonates of the same menstrual age in order to determine their degree of maturity by means of neurophysiological parameters, i.e. nerve conduction velocity indicating peripheral nerve myelinisation, and EEG patterns indicating cortical, dendritic, synaptic activity. Nerve conduction velocities were found to be almost normal for age. The EEG patterns, evaluated by means of a coding system, were sometimes similar to those found in more immature infants. Therefore, on the basis of the EEG, the menstrual age was frequently underestimated in infants of diabetic mothers. So far, no correlation could be detected between the degree of underestimation and blood glucose levels. Die Entwicklung des Nervensystems bei neugeborenen Kindern diabetischer Mütter wurde mit der von gleichaltrigen gesunden Früh- und Neugeborenen verglichen. See also Brain and Behavioural Maturation in Newborn Infants of Diabetic Mothers ¹ – Part II in the journal Neuropädiatrie, issue 1 1969.