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Neuropediatrics 1989; 20(1): 25-29
DOI: 10.1055/s-2008-1071260
Original article

© Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York

Posture During Head Turning in Pre-Term Infants: A Longitudinal Study of 15 Low-Risk Infants of 32-36 Weeks of Conceptional Age

J. S. H. Vles1 , R.  van Oostenbrugge1 , H.  Kingma2 , H.  Caberg3 , P.  Casaer4
  • 1Department of Neurology, University Hospital Maastricht, University of Limburg, P.O. Box 1918, 6201 BX Maastricht, The Netherlands
  • 2Department of E.N.T., University Hospital Maastricht, University of Limburg, P.O. Box 1918, 6201 BX Maastricht, The Netherlands
  • 3Department of Neurophysiology, University Hospital Maastricht, University of Limburg, P.O. Box 1918, 6201 BX Maastricht, The Netherlands
  • 4Department of Pediatrics and Neonatal Medicine, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, University Hospital Gasthuisberg, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium
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Publication History

Publication Date:
19 March 2008 (online)

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Abstract

As part of a longitudinal study of spontaneous behaviour from 32-36 weeks of conceptional age, body posture was studied during spontaneous head movements in 15 low-risk pre-term infants. At the moment of an active head position in the midline, the most frequently observed posture was a symmetrical one in which the arms were fully flexed and the legs partly extended. With regard to the arm position no clearly developmental trend was noted. With regard to the leg position an increase of the partly flexed position of the limbs related to conceptional age was found. The observed postures during activity in our study showed a cephalocaudal acquisition of flexor tone. A symmetrical posture, when the head is in the midline, may be a sign of normality in pre-term infants.

Key words

Body posture - Pre-Term Infants