Neurologic follow up of premature infants and other neonatal at-risk patients in Norway

Infants with very low birthweight (< 1,500 grams) are at increased risk of neurological disabilities and impairments later in childhood. We wanted to study whether the paediatric departments in Norway had organised routine neurological follow-up programmes for these patients, and in particular whether the child habilitation departments participated in the follow-up. A questionnaire was returned from 19 of 23 pediatric departments. The questionnaire also included other neonatal risk groups. The results showed that one senior paediatrician was in charge of the follow-up at most departments. The neonatologists worked in collaboration with the child neurologists, and most often the child habilitation department was consulted in the neonatal period. Only seven departments used a standardised follow-up programme. Main high risk groups were infants with birthweight < 1,500 grams and infants with birth asphyxia. There was a lack of consensus with regard to other inclusion criteria, time for follow-up and type of examinations. Only a few of the departments had performed follow-up studies concerning neurological sequelae and quality of life for this group of patients. Registration of neurological disease in premature children should be mandatory for every department with neonatal intensive medicine.