Developmental screening of full-term infants at 16 to 18 months of age after in-utero exposure to maternal SARS-CoV-2 infection

Aashish V Shah; Heather B Howell; Sadaf H Kazmi; Michele Zaccario; Felice E Sklamberg; Taylor Groth; Pia Martindale; Benard Dreyer; Sourabh Verma

doi:10.1038/s41372-023-01642-3

Developmental screening of full-term infants at 16 to 18 months of age after in-utero exposure to maternal SARS-CoV-2 infection

J Perinatol. 2023 May;43(5):659-663. doi: 10.1038/s41372-023-01642-3. Epub 2023 Mar 17.

Authors

Aashish V Shah^#¹, Heather B Howell^#¹, Sadaf H Kazmi¹, Michele Zaccario^{1

2}, Felice E Sklamberg¹, Taylor Groth^{1

3}, Pia Martindale¹, Benard Dreyer⁴, Sourabh Verma⁵

Affiliations

¹ Division of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA.
² Department of Psychology, Pace University, New York, NY, USA.
³ Rusk Rehabilitation, New York University Langone Health, New York, NY, USA.
⁴ Division of Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics, Department of Pediatrics, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA.
⁵ Division of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA. sourabh.verma@nyulangone.org.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Objective: To screen for neurodevelopmental delays in a cohort of full-term infants born to mothers with SARS-CoV-2.

Study design: This was a prospective, descriptive cohort study of full-term infants born to mothers with SARS-CoV-2 during pregnancy. Subjects underwent neurodevelopmental screening using the Ages and Stages Questionnaires^®-Third Edition (ASQ^®-3) at 16 to 18 months age.

Results: Of 51 subjects, twelve (24%) were below cutoff, and twenty-seven (53%) were either below or close to the cutoff in at least one developmental domain. Communication (29%), fine motor (31%), and problem-solving (24%) were the most affected domains. There were no differences in outcomes between infants born to asymptomatic and mildly symptomatic mothers.

Conclusion: We observed increased risk of neurodevelopmental delays during screening of infants born at full-term to mothers with SARS-CoV-2 at 16 to 18 months age. These results highlight the urgent need for follow-up studies of infants born to mothers with SARS-CoV-2.

MeSH terms

COVID-19* / diagnosis
Cohort Studies
Female
Humans
Infant
Mothers
Nervous System Malformations*
Pregnancy
Pregnancy Complications, Infectious* / diagnosis
Pregnancy Complications, Infectious* / epidemiology
Prospective Studies
SARS-CoV-2