Abstract
Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical value of Kurjak’s Antenatal Neurodevelopmental Test (KANET), a new test for fetal neurodevelopment.
Methods: One hundred seventeen prenatal neurological tests were performed by the KANET scoring system between 28 and 38 weeks of gestation in 24 low-risk (24 fetuses) and 26 at-risk pregnancies (32 fetuses). The study was completed within 12 months from July 2011 onward. All 56 babies were assessed for early neurological outcome at birth by neonatologists.
Results: There were no abnormal KANET scores. Two thirds of all borderline scores were found in the at-risk group. Because KANET was performed more than once in most pregnancies, we introduced the average KANET score. Only one fetus of the “at-risk group” had a borderline average score. This fetus had the only abnormal early neurological outcome of all 56 fetuses. When we compared all 18 borderline KANET scores with fetal diurnal rhythm based on maternal observation, we found that 89% of the borderline scores of the “at-risk” group were at times characterized by the mother as usually “active” periods compared with 33.3% in the low-risk group.
Conclusion: KANET is suggestive of expressing the risk for neurodevelopmental fetal disorders. Studies designed to investigate the potential connectivity of fetal diurnal rhythm and pregnancy risk status should follow.
©2013 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin Boston
