Objective
The purpose of this study was to determine whether planned cesarean delivery for the
singleton fetus in breech presentation at term reduces the risk of death or neurodevelopmental
delay at 2 years of age.
Study design
In selected centers in the Term Breech Trial, children were screened for abnormalities
at ≥2 years of age with the Ages and Stages Questionnaire, followed by a neurodevelopmental
assessment if the Ages and Stages Questionnaire score was abnormal.
Results
A total of 923 of 1159 children (79.6%) from 85 centers were followed to 2 years of
age. The risk of death or neurodevelopmental delay was no different for the planned
cesarean than for the planned vaginal birth groups (14 children [3.1%] vs 13 children
[2.8%]; relative risk, 1.09; 95% CI, 0.52- 2.30; P = .85; risk difference, +0.3%; 95% CI, −1.9%, +2.4%).
Conclusion
Planned cesarean delivery is not associated with a reduction in risk of death or neurodevelopmental
delay in children at 2 years of age.
Key words
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Article Info
Footnotes
Supported by a grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (grant no. MT-37415). The Data Co-ordination Centre was supported by grants from the Centre for Research in Women's Health, Sunnybrook and Women's College Health Sciences Centre, and the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Presented at the Twenty-Fourth Annual Meeting of the Society for Maternal Fetal Medicine, New Orleans, La, February 2-7, 2004.
Reprints will not be available from the authors.
Identification
Copyright
© 2004 Elsevier Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
