Clinical profile of children with developmental delay and microcephaly

• Main Authors: Anju Aggarwal, Hema Mittal, Rahul Patil, Sanjib Debnath, Anuradha Rai
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Thieme Medical and Scientific Publishers Pvt. Ltd. 2013-07-01
• Series: Journal of Neurosciences in Rural Practice
• Subjects: cerebral palsy; developmental delay; etiology; microcephaly
• Online Access: http://www.thieme-connect.de/DOI/DOI?10.4103/0976-3147.118781

Aim: To study the profile of children with developmental delay and microcephaly. Materials and Methods: Children attending child development clinic with developmental delay were evaluated as per protocol. Z scores of head circumference were calculated using WHO charts. Clinical, radiological and etiological profile of those with microcephaly and those without was compared. Results: Of the 414 children with developmental delay 231 had microcephaly (z score ≤ -3). Mean age of children with microcephaly was 35.1 ± 27.9 months (range 4-184), males (72.7%). Comorbidities were epilepsy (42.9%), visual abnormality (26.4%), hearing abnormality (16.9%). Mean DQ was 29.75 + 17.8 in those with microcephaly was significantly lower compared to the rest (P = 0.002). Secondary microcephaly was associated with cerebral palsy in 69.7%. Other causes were congenital infections (4), inborn error of metabolism (3), post-meningoencephalitis (5), malformations (12), and syndromic (13). Neuroimaging was done in 118 (51.1%) cases of which 104 (88.1%) were abnormal. On comparison children with microcephaly had more epilepsy, lower developmental quotient, vision abnormalities findings as compared to normocephalic children with developmental delay (P &003E; 0.05). Conclusion: Microcephaly was associated with lower, DQ, higher comorbidities in children with developmental delay. Spastic CP is commonly associated with microcephaly.