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Maternal (Expert Forum)
INTERNATIONAL ADOPTION FROM RUSSIA
Patient medical question and answer from The Maternal and Child Health Forum. Health topic area and articles about newborn care
INTERNATIONAL ADOPTION FROM RUSSIA
by KIM-LIP, Oct 08, 1998 12:00AM
WE WILL BE ADOPTING A SET OF TWINS FROM RUSSIA IN A FEW WEEKS. WE ARE VERY
FAMILAR WITH THE DEVELOPMENTAL DELAYS THAT THEY WILL HAVE. WE HAD A DOCTOR REVIEW OUR VIDEO TAPE MADE OF THE TWINS AT THE AGE OF 5 MONTHS AND SHE SEEMED ALARMED BY THE FOLLOWING BEHAVIOR.....
THE MALE TWIN HOLDS HIS HANDS IN A FIST POSITION DURING THE 1 MINUTE VIDEO TAPE AND NEVER OPENS THEM.
MALE TWIN ALSO SMILES IN A CIRCLE NOT SIDE TO SIDE.
HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF SUCH BEHAVIOR BEING LINKED WITH A CHILHOOD ILLNESS?
THANK YOU
FAMILAR WITH THE DEVELOPMENTAL DELAYS THAT THEY WILL HAVE. WE HAD A DOCTOR REVIEW OUR VIDEO TAPE MADE OF THE TWINS AT THE AGE OF 5 MONTHS AND SHE SEEMED ALARMED BY THE FOLLOWING BEHAVIOR.....
THE MALE TWIN HOLDS HIS HANDS IN A FIST POSITION DURING THE 1 MINUTE VIDEO TAPE AND NEVER OPENS THEM.
MALE TWIN ALSO SMILES IN A CIRCLE NOT SIDE TO SIDE.
HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF SUCH BEHAVIOR BEING LINKED WITH A CHILHOOD ILLNESS?
THANK YOU
Doctor's Answer
by HFHS.RN-AM, Oct 08, 1998 12:00AM
_
Dear Kim,
These babies must have some history you have not given if you know that they will have developmental delays by the age of 5 months. I can only guess that there was possibly some birth trauma that cause cerebral anoxia, or that the babies are very premature and might have experienced intraventricular hemmorage. The clenched fist is a symptom of spasticity, which results from anoxia. There is a spectrum of severity, ranging from simply this fist, to diplgia, to spastic quadriplegia (look up cerebral palsy on the net). The facial characteristic may indicate an underlying neuromuscular problem as well. There is some syndrome which this is a characteristic facies, but the name escapes me at present. If some of my resources can think of it, I'll post a follow-up again.
It could be that the children will ONLY have motor deficits, and their cognition will not be impaired.
Good luck .
HFHS.RN-AM
*KEYWORD: cerebral palsy, IVH, intraventricular hemmorage, developmental delays
Dear Kim,
These babies must have some history you have not given if you know that they will have developmental delays by the age of 5 months. I can only guess that there was possibly some birth trauma that cause cerebral anoxia, or that the babies are very premature and might have experienced intraventricular hemmorage. The clenched fist is a symptom of spasticity, which results from anoxia. There is a spectrum of severity, ranging from simply this fist, to diplgia, to spastic quadriplegia (look up cerebral palsy on the net). The facial characteristic may indicate an underlying neuromuscular problem as well. There is some syndrome which this is a characteristic facies, but the name escapes me at present. If some of my resources can think of it, I'll post a follow-up again.
It could be that the children will ONLY have motor deficits, and their cognition will not be impaired.
Good luck .
HFHS.RN-AM
*KEYWORD: cerebral palsy, IVH, intraventricular hemmorage, developmental delays
