CC BY 4.0 · Arq Neuropsiquiatr 2023; 81(S 01): S1-S96
DOI: 10.1055/s-0043-1774657
CASE REPORT
Transtornos neuropsiquiátricos e distúrbios de aprendizagem
Code: PE245

Reduced fidgety movements in child prenatally exposed to SARS-CoV-2: a case report

Isabelle Diniz Melo
1   Universidade Federal do Ceará, Fortaleza CE, Brazil
,
Renata Castro Kehdi
1   Universidade Federal do Ceará, Fortaleza CE, Brazil
,
Leticia Regia Lima Cavalcante
1   Universidade Federal do Ceará, Fortaleza CE, Brazil
,
Deniele Bezerra Lós
1   Universidade Federal do Ceará, Fortaleza CE, Brazil
,
Marylane da Silva Viana
1   Universidade Federal do Ceará, Fortaleza CE, Brazil
,
Danielle Macêdo Gaspar
1   Universidade Federal do Ceará, Fortaleza CE, Brazil
› Institutsangaben
 

    Case presentation: A male baby born by Cesarean section at 37 weeks (APGAR 9/9), weighing 4280 g, stature of 53 cm and cephalic perimeter of 38 cm. The 29 years-old mother (G5P4A1), previously hypertensive, had an active COVID-19 infection during childbirth. She had no other comorbidities. At four months, he presented with motor skills developmental delay, showcasing hypertonia of the lower limbs and axial hypotonia. Subsequently, he was submitted to various evaluations, such as the Hammersmith neurological evaluation, in which he achieved a score of 59 and as Alberta's Infant Motor Scale (scoring 12), attaining a percentile of 10. Finally, he underwent the General Movement Assessment (GMA), in which he presented abnormal fidgety movements, lack of foot-to-foot contact, and hand-to-hand contact, both expected at this age.

    Discussion: The case under consideration refers to a child, prenatally exposed to the SARS-CoV-2 virus, who presented with motor skills dysfunction. Although many viral maternal infections are well associated with neurodevelopmental disorders, the effects of prenatal exposure to the COVID-19 virus on child development are still not well established. With this in mind, it is important to consider this type of infection's inflammatory potential, which can trigger maternal immune activation, mainly when associated with the inflammatory profile of the first and third semesters, and generate immunological responses strong enough to impair fetal development. In addition, the General Movement Assessment is a tool that evaluates possible early changes in neurodevelopment and it is already being used to describe abnormal fidgety movements of babies whose mothers had COVID-19 during their pregnancy. Based on the GMA results from the presented case, the child could be at risk for future neurological disorders.

    Final comments: The consequences of prenatal exposure to the COVID-19 virus are not entirely known. Because of this, neurodevelopmental abnormalities observed in children submitted to these inflammatory conditions should be reported and investigated for further clarification.


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    Die Autoren geben an, dass kein Interessenkonflikt besteht.

    Publikationsverlauf

    Artikel online veröffentlicht:
    18. September 2023

    © 2023. Academia Brasileira de Neurologia. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

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