A newborn baby has not yet fully formed organs and systems, and it takes some time to complete the formation. It is in the process of the growth of the baby that his central nervous system is also formed and matures. The nervous system of the baby helps regulate its normal existence in the world.
In some cases, neonatal central nervous system damage, which has recently been encountered quite often, can be diagnosed. Depression of the nervous system can cause serious consequences and leave the child disabled.
Feature of the structure of the nervous system of a newborn
A baby differs from an adult not only in external differences, but also in the structure of his body, since all systems and organs are not fully formed. During the formation of the brain, the child has pronounced unconditioned reflexes. Immediately after birth, the level of substances that regulate hormones responsible for the functioning of the digestive system rises. At the same time, all receptors are already well developed.
Causes of CNS pathology
Reasons andThe consequences of damage to the central nervous system of newborns can be very different. The main factors provoking disruption of the functioning of the nervous system are:
- lack of oxygen, or hypoxia;
- birth trauma;
- disturbance of normal metabolism;
- infectious diseases suffered by the expectant mother during pregnancy.
Lack of oxygen, or hypoxia, occurs when a pregnant woman works in hazardous work, with infectious diseases, smoking, previous abortions. All this disrupts the general blood circulation, as well as the saturation of the blood with oxygen, and the fetus receives oxygen along with the mother's blood.
Birth trauma is considered one of the factors leading to damage to the nervous system, since any injury can provoke a violation of the maturation and subsequent development of the central nervous system.
Disturbance of normal metabolism occurs for the same reasons as the lack of air. Drug addiction and alcoholism of the expectant mother also leads to dysmetabolic disorders. In addition, the use of potent medications can affect the nervous system.
Critical for the fetus can be infectious diseases suffered by the expectant mother while carrying a child. Among such infections, herpes and rubella should be distinguished. In addition, absolutely any pathogenic microbes and bacteria can provoke irreversible negative processes in the child's body. Mostly problems with the nervous system occur in preterm infants.children.
Periods of CNS pathologies
The syndrome of damage and depression of the nervous system combines several pathological conditions that occur during fetal development, during labor, and also in the first hours of a baby's life. Despite the presence of many predisposing factors, only 3 periods are distinguished during the course of the disease, namely:
- spicy;
- restorative;
- outcome.
In each period, CNS lesions in newborns have different clinical manifestations. In addition, children may have a combination of several different syndromes. The severity of each ongoing syndrome allows you to determine the severity of damage to the nervous system.
Acute disease
The acute period lasts for a month. Its course directly depends on the degree of damage. With a mild form of the lesion, startle, increased excitability of nervous reflexes, trembling of the chin, sharp uncontrolled movements of the limbs, and sleep disturbances are observed. The baby may cry very often for no apparent reason.
With moderate severity, there is a decrease in motor activity and muscle tone, weakening of reflexes, mainly sucking. This condition of the baby should definitely alert. By the end of the first month of life, the existing signs may be replaced by hyperexcitability, an almost transparent skin color, frequent regurgitation and flatulence. Often the child is diagnosed with hydrocephalic syndrome,characterized by a rapid increase in head circumference, increased pressure, bulging fontanel, strange eye movements.
At the most severe degree, coma usually occurs. Such a complication requires the child to stay in the hospital under the supervision of a doctor.
Rehabilitation period
CNS damage in newborns during the recovery period has syndromes:
- hyperexcitability;
- epileptic;
- motor disorders;
- mental delays.
With a prolonged violation of muscle tone, there are often delays in the development of the psyche and the presence of impaired motor functions, which are characterized by involuntary movements provoked by contraction of the muscles of the trunk, face, limbs, eyes. This prevents the child from making normal purposeful movements.
When the development of the psyche is delayed, the baby begins much later to hold his head on his own, sit, walk, crawl. He also has insufficiently good facial expressions, reduced interest in toys, a weak cry, a delay in the appearance of babbling and cooing. Such delays in the development of the child's psyche should definitely alert parents.
Result of disease
At about a year, CNS damage in newborns becomes apparent, although the main symptoms of the disease gradually disappear. The result of the course of the pathology becomes:
- developmental delay;
- hyperactivity;
- cerebroasthenic syndrome;
- epilepsy.
Bthis can result in cerebral palsy and disability in the child.
Perinatal CNS damage
Perinatal CNS damage in newborns is a collective concept that implies a violation of the functioning of the brain. Similar disorders are observed in the antenatal, intranatal and neonatal period.
Antenatal starts from the 28th week of intrauterine development and ends after birth. Intranatal includes the period of childbirth, starting from the onset of labor and until the birth of the child. The neonatal period begins after birth and is characterized by the adaptation of the baby to environmental conditions.
The main cause of perinatal CNS damage in newborns is hypoxia, which develops during an unsuccessful pregnancy, birth trauma, asphyxia, infectious diseases of the fetus.
Intrauterine infections and birth trauma are considered to be the cause of brain damage. In addition, there may be damage to the spinal cord that occurs during trauma during childbirth.
Symptoms largely depend on the period of the course of the disease and the severity of the lesion. In the first month after the birth of a child, an acute period of the course of the disease is observed, characterized by depression of the nervous system, as well as hyperexcitability. Muscle tone gradually normalizes. The degree of recovery largely depends on the degree of damage.
The disease is diagnosed in the hospital by a neonatologist. The specialist conducts a comprehensive examination of the baby and, based on the availablesigns make a diagnosis. After discharge from the maternity hospital, the child is under the supervision of a neurologist. To make a more accurate diagnosis, a hardware examination is carried out.
Treatment should be carried out from the first hours after the birth of the child and the diagnosis. In the acute form, therapy is carried out strictly in a hospital under the constant supervision of a doctor. If the disease has a mild course, then treatment can be carried out at home under the supervision of a neurologist.
The recovery period is carried out in a complex manner, and at the same time, along with medications, physiotherapeutic methods are used, such as physiotherapy exercises, swimming, manual therapy, massages, speech therapy classes. The main goal of such methods is the correction of mental and physical development in accordance with age-related changes.
Hypoxic-ischemic CNS damage
Since it is often hypoxia that provokes damage to the nervous system, every expectant mother should know what leads to hypoxia and how this can be avoided. Many parents are interested in what is hypoxic-ischemic CNS damage in newborns. The severity of the main signs of the disease largely depends on the duration of the child's hypoxia in the prenatal period.
If hypoxia is short-term, then the violations are not so serious, more dangerous is oxygen starvation, which lasts for a long time. In this case, functional disorders of the brain may occur.or even death of nerve cells. To prevent a disorder of the nervous system in an infant, a woman during childbearing should be very attentive to her state of he alth. If you suspect the presence of diseases that provoke fetal hypoxia, you should immediately consult a doctor for treatment. Knowing what it is - hypoxic-ischemic damage to the central nervous system in newborns, and what are the signs of the disease, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of pathology with timely treatment.
Forms and symptoms of the course of the disease
CNS damage in newborns can occur in several different forms, namely:
- light;
- medium;
- heavy.
The mild form is characterized by the fact that in the first days of a child's life, excessive excitability of nerve reflexes, weak muscle tone can be observed. There may be a sliding strabismus or irregular, wandering movement of the eyeballs. After a while, trembling of the chin and limbs, as well as restless movements, may be observed.
The medium form has symptoms such as lack of emotion in the child, poor muscle tone, paralysis. Seizures, hypersensitivity, and involuntary eye movement may occur.
The severe form is characterized by serious disorders of the nervous system with its gradual suppression. This appears in the form of convulsions, kidney failure, disorders of the intestines, cardiovascular system, respiratory organs.
Diagnosis
Since the consequences of damage to the central nervoussystems can be quite dangerous, so it is important to diagnose violations in a timely manner. Sick children generally behave uncharacteristically for newborns, which is why when the first symptoms of the disease appear, you should definitely consult a doctor for an examination and subsequent treatment.
Initially, the doctor examines the newborn, but this is often not enough. At the slightest suspicion of the presence of a pathology, the doctor prescribes a computed tomography, ultrasound diagnostics, and an x-ray. Thanks to complex diagnostics, it is possible to identify the problem in time and treat it using modern means.
Treatment of CNS lesions
Some pathological processes occurring in the body of a baby, in an advanced stage, may be irreversible, therefore, urgent measures and timely therapy are required. Treatment of newborns should be carried out in the first months of their life, since during this period the baby's body is able to fully restore impaired brain functions.
Deviations in the work of the central nervous system are corrected with the help of drug therapy. It contains drugs that improve the nutrition of nerve cells. During therapy, drugs that stimulate blood circulation are used. With the help of medications, you can reduce or increase muscle tone.
So that sick children canrecover faster, in combination with medications, osteopathic therapy and physiotherapy procedures are used. Massage, electrophoresis, reflexology and many other techniques are shown for the rehabilitation course.
After stabilization of the child's condition, an individual program of supportive complex therapy is developed and regular monitoring of the baby's condition is carried out. Throughout the year, the dynamics of the child's condition is analyzed, other methods of therapy are selected that contribute to the speedy recovery and development of the required skills, abilities and reflexes.
Prevention of CNS damage
In order to prevent the occurrence of a serious and dangerous disease, it is necessary to carry out the prevention of lesions of the central nervous system of the baby. For this, doctors recommend planning a pregnancy in advance, undergoing the required examinations in a timely manner and giving up bad habits. If necessary, antiviral therapy is carried out, all necessary vaccinations are made, and hormonal levels are normalized.
If the defeat of the central nervous system of the baby did occur, then it is important to help the newborn from the first hours of his life and to constantly monitor the condition of the baby.
Consequences of CNS damage
Consequences and complications of CNS damage in a newborn baby can be very serious, dangerous to he alth and life, and they are expressed as:
- severe forms of mental development;
- severe forms of motor development, cerebral palsy;
- epilepsy;
- neurological deficit.
Timely detection of the disease and well-conducted therapy will help get rid of serious he alth problems and prevent complications.
