Apgar scores in neonates predict risk of CP and epilepsy

An infant’s scores on the so-called Apgar scale can predict the risk of a later diagnosis of cerebral palsy or epilepsy.

The risk rises with decreasing Apgar score, but even slightly lowered scores can be linked to a higher risk of these diagnoses, according to an extensive observational study by researchers at Karolinska Institutet.

Kristina Tedroff, Associate professor and researcher at the division of Paediatric neurology at the Department of Women's and Children's Health is one of the autors to a study published in the BMJ.