[Chorio-amnionitis: clinical and biological aspects--medicolegal implications]

Infection Induced Fetal Inflammatory Response Syndrome (FIRS): State-of- the-Art and Medico-Legal Implications-A Narrative Review

Fetal inflammatory response syndrome (FIRS) represents the fetal inflammatory reaction to intrauterine infection or injury, potentially leading to multiorgan impairment, neonatal mortality, and morbidity. Infections induce FIRS after chorioamnionitis (CA), defined as acute maternal inflammatory response to amniotic fluid infection, acute funisitis and chorionic vasculitis. FIRS involves many molecules, i.e., cytokines and/or chemokines, able to directly or indirectly damage fetal organs. Therefore, due to FIRS being a condition with a complex etiopathogenesis and multiple organ dysfunction, especially brain injury, medical liability is frequently claimed. In medical malpractice, reconstruction of the pathological pathways is paramount. However, in cases of FIRS, ideal medical conduct is hard to delineate, due to uncertainty in diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of this highly complex condition. This narrative review revises the current knowledge of FIRS caused by infections, maternal and neonatal diagnosis and treatments, the main consequences of the disease and their prognoses, and discusses the medico-legal implications.

Intra-partum fever and cerebral palsy in Khartoum, Sudan

Background

Cerebral palsy (CP) is a major cause of childhood disability. There are various maternal and neonatal predictors associated with the development of CP, and they are variable across different populations. This case–control study was designed to investigate maternal and neonatal predictors of CP at Khartoum pediatric neurology clinics. Data (maternal sociodemographic characteristics and neonatal expected predictors) were collected from mothers of children with CP and healthy controls using questionnaires.

Results

One hundred and eleven cases of CP and 222 controls were included. Spastic CP was the most common type (69.4%). In logistic regression, maternal age, parity, birth weight, and sex were not associated with CP. However, maternal fever (OR = 8.4, CI = 2.3–30.5; P = 0.001), previous neonatal death (OR = 5.4, CI = 1.8–16.2; P = 0.003), and poor sucking (OR = 30.5, CI = 10.0–93.1; P < 0.001) were predictors of CP.

Conclusions

Fever during labor is a significant risk factor for developing CP in children. Further efforts are required for labor management to prevent CP in this setting.