Neuropsychological profiles of six children with anoxic brain injury

Abstract

Anoxic brain injury (ABI) often results in severe memory impairment and other cognitive and behavioral deficits, although limited information is available regarding pediatric cases. This study reported the neuropsychological outcomes in six children and adolescents who sustained ABI. Profiles were compared by mechanism of injury (ischemic vs. hypoxemic) and three cases were evaluated more than once. Severe intellectual, attention, memory, and behavioral impairments were observed in all six cases although academic achievement, internalizing behavioral problems, and visuospatial deficits were in general less severe than other cognitive and behavioral deficits. The longitudinal case studies varied but showed steady increases in memory and intellectual performance in the younger children with strongest improvement in nonverbal abilities and little change in parent-reported behavior. This study raises several possible hypotheses about specific cognitive and behavioral outcomes observed in pediatric ABI.

Back to School: Academic Functioning and Educational Needs among Youth with Acquired Brain Injury

“…Further, parents of children with history of bacterial meningitis reported lower school achievement, higher rates of repeating a year of school, and higher rates of special education referrals six years after infection [ 28 ]. Among a small sample of six children with anoxic brain injury, results show academic impairment, though to a lesser extent than intellectual and memory difficulties, following brain injury [ 114 ]. One study showed that children with a history of anoxic brain injury have poorer academic outcomes than children with a TBI history [ 115 ].…”