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. 2023 Aug;30(4):193-206.
doi: 10.21315/mjms2023.30.4.16. Epub 2023 Aug 24.

The Key Aspects of Neonatal and Infant Neurological Examination: The Ballard Score, the Infant's Head with Hydrocephalus and Assessment in a Clinical Setting

Zaitun Zakaria  1   2   3 , Hans Van Rostenberghe  4   5 , Noraida Ramli  4   5 , Mohamad Syahrain Suhaimi  4   5 , Siti Nur Haidar Hazlan  4   5 , Jafri Malin Abdullah  1   2   3
Affiliations

The Key Aspects of Neonatal and Infant Neurological Examination: The Ballard Score, the Infant's Head with Hydrocephalus and Assessment in a Clinical Setting

Zaitun Zakaria et al. Malays J Med Sci. 2023 Aug.

Abstract

The physical examination of the newborn is essential in diagnosing neurological or neurosurgical conditions in the newborn. This article focuses on three clinical assessments of newborns and infants that are especially important if neurological problems are suspected: The Ballard score, the examination of the head in a baby with (suspected) hydrocephalus, and the neurological and developmental evaluation of an infant in an ambulatory setting. A textual description and a link to a video describe each assessment.

Keywords: Ballard score; hydrocephalus; infant; maturity; neonates; neurology.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest None.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The physical maturity assessment for Ballard score. Each assessment gets a score between −1 and maximum 5
Figure 2
Figure 2
The neuromuscular maturity assessment for Ballard score and the correlation between the score and the gestational age
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment in

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