Neonatal encephalopathy is a clinically defined syndrome
of disturbed neurological function in the earliest days of
life in the term infant, manifested by difficulty with
initiating and maintaining respiration, depression of tone
and reflexes, subnormal levels of consciousness and often,
seizures. Children with cerebral
palsy who have a history of neonatal encephalopathy are
more likely to have had signs of intrapartum hypoxia such
as meconium staining of the amniotic fluid, and to have a
more severe form of cerebral palsy, than those without neonatal encephalopathy. However,
there may be no evidence of perinatal asphyxia in a
significant percentage of children with neonatal
encephalopathy. In a systematic study,
cerebral palsy was more strongly associated with Sarnat
Grade III than with Sarnat Grade II encephalopathy, using
a grading system of 0 to III