Decreased brain iron deposition based on quantitative susceptibility mapping correlates with reduced neurodevelopmental status in children with autism spectrum disorder.

To investigate potential correlations between the susceptibility values of certain brain regions and the severity of disease or neurodevelopmental status in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), 18 ASD children and 15 healthy controls (HCs) were recruited. The neurodevelopmental status was assessed by the Gesell Developmental Schedules (GDS) and the severity of the disease was evaluated by the Autism Behavior Checklist (ABC). Eleven brain regions were selected as regions of interest and the susceptibility values were measured by quantitative susceptibility mapping. To evaluate the diagnostic capacity of susceptibility values in distinguishing ASD and HC, the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was computed. Pearson and Spearman partial correlation analysis were used to depict the correlations between the susceptibility values, the ABC scores, and the GDS scores in the ASD group. ROC curves showed that the susceptibility values of the left and right frontal white matter had a larger area under the curve in the ASD group. The susceptibility value of the right globus pallidus was positively correlated with the GDS-fine motor scale score. These findings indicated that the susceptibility value of the right globus pallidus might be a viable imaging biomarker for evaluating the neurodevelopmental status of ASD children.

Effect of online parent training in promoting language development of children with language delay in Hubei province, China.

BACKGROUND: Training parents to implement language and communication intervention strategies is an effective approach to promote language development for children with language delay. AIMS: This study introduces an online parent training program conducted in Hubei province, China, which was designed to help parents of language-delayed children with a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), developmental language disorder (DLD) or global developmental delay (GDD) apply language intervention strategies into daily interactions and promote their children's language development at home. METHODS & PROCEDURES: The Bethel Hearing and Speaking Training Center Family Training for Early Communication & Language Development (Bethel Family Training Program, BFT) (Bethel HSTC, 2020) was designed to improve the language and communication skills for children with language delay in a naturalistic way. The caregivers (including parents, grandparents and other main caregivers) participated in an 8-h online program, including lectures on milestones in child language development, common misunderstandings of child language development, and three basic family language intervention strategies ('Looking together, playing together, and talking together') incorporating active learning through video analysis and discussion. Tongji Hospital in Hubei then continued with 3 months of online home intervention monitoring to all the caregivers via weekly online Q&As led by BFT certified speech therapists' team. The Gesell Developmental Schedules (GDS) was carried out before the online parent training program and after the 3-month online home intervention monitoring. OUTCOMES & RESULTS: 146 families whose children aged 12-68 months with language delay participated in the online training program. The results of the GDS assessments conducted before and after the program showed that not only did the developmental quotient (DQ) of language improve, but so did the DQ of social behaviour and adaptive behaviour (p < 0.001). There is no between-group difference in the application of three strategies between the ASD group and the DLD or GDD group (p > 0.05). Furthermore, both caregivers' ability to apply 'looking together, playing together, talking together' strategies and the effective interaction time played important roles in improving the child's language abilities. CONCLUSION & IMPLICATIONS: The online parent training focusing on improving daily interaction with children through speech-language stimulation strategies promoted the development of language skills. It is an economic and practical approach for children with language delay who have limited access to local language intervention programs. WHAT THIS PAPER ADDS: What is already known on the subject Parent-implemented language intervention is an effective approach at improving children's language development. Telepractice is an appropriate model of service delivery for audiologists and speech-language therapists and may be the primary mode of service delivery or may supplement in-person services. What this paper adds to the existing knowledge This paper explores the effectiveness of an online parent training program and provides new evidence that online training on language support strategies (looking together, playing together, talking together) followed by home intervention monitoring works for Mandarin-speaking children and it is equally effective for children with ASD and non-ASD diagnosis. What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this work? Developmental behavioural paediatricians and speech-language therapists in countries and areas that lack sufficient training resource for every child will have the option to deliver parent training and home intervention monitoring online, which will save time and cost considerably while offering convenience.

Gesell Developmental Schedules scores and the relevant factors in children with Down syndrome.

Background Down syndrome (DS) is a common chromosomal disease resulting in neurodegeneration. Cognitive competence has been assessed among adults with DS using various methods because DS patients have a tendency to develop Alzheimer's disease (AD) after middle age. However, research describing cognitive assessments in DS children is not as many as in DS adults, let alone with regard to performed analyses to determine factors that predict cognitive assessments. In this study, we evaluated the Gesell Developmental Schedules (GDS) scores and their associations with the relevant biochemical indicators and demographic factors in DS children. Methods All the subjects underwent GDS testing. The plasma amyloid-ß (Aß) peptide and serum vitamin A (VA) values were measured with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and high-performance liquid chromatography, and in the meanwhile, the demographic information of the subjects was collected. Results Forty-six DS children were recruited for this study. The GDS scores of children with DS were lower than those in children without DS. The plasma Aß40 and Aß42 levels were negatively associated with the GDS scores. Moreover, the GDS scores of the non-VA deficiency (NVAD) group were significantly higher than those of the VA deficiency (VAD) group. Certain demographic characteristics, such as the paternal labor intensity and paternal educational status, were relevant factors with regard to the GDS scores of the DS children. Conclusions This study determined that DS children exhibited abnormal GDS scores which indicated developmental delay of children with DS; the levels of plasma Aß40, Aß42 and serum VA were influential biochemical indicators and the paternal labor intensity and educational status were related demographic factors.

Assessment of Nervous System of High-risk Infants: 236 Cases Report / 中国康复理论与实践

Objective:To investigate evaluation methods to predict the outcome of nervous system development in high-risk infants. Methods:From March, 2015 to March, 2016, 336 high-risk infants were enrolled. They were assessed by General Movements (GMs) Quality Assessment, 0~1 Years Old 20 Items Neuromotor Assessment and Gesell Developmental Schedules. Results:A total of 236 infants finishied the study. GMs Quality Assessment showed that 203 cases were normal and 33 cases were abnormal in the writhing movements stage; 218 cases were normal and 18 cases were abnormal in the fidgety movemonts stage. 0~1 Years Old 20 Items Neuromotor Assessment showed that 202 cases were normal and 34 cases were abnormal. Gesell Developmental Schedules showed that 12 cases were abnormal. Conclusion:The combination of GMs Quality Assessment, 0~1 Years Old 20 Items Neuromotor Assessment and Gesell Developmental Schedules could better predict the nervous system development of high-risk infants.

The diagnostic value of cerebrospinal fluid protein in the assessment of neurological outcome in preterm infants with sepsis / 中国小儿急救医学

Objective To investigate the diagnostic value of cerebrospinal fluid protein in the assess-ment of neurological outcome in preterm infants with sepsis. Methods A total of 80 preterm infants with sepsis were enrolled in the department of neonatology of Shanghai Children's Hospital from June 2014 to June 2016. The lumbar puncture was completed within 24 hours after diagnosis of sepsis,and the results of ce-rebrospinal fluid protein were obtained. The prognosis of neurological development was assessed according to Gesell Developmental Quotient ( DQ) at 6 months of adjusted gestational age. DQ> 85 was used as an indi-cator of good prognosis group. DQ≤85 was assigned to the poor prognosis group. The differences in protein content of cerebrospinal fluid between these two groups were retrospectively analyzed. The receiver operating characteristic ( ROC) curve was used to evaluate the diagnostic value of cerebrospinal fluid in evaluating the prognosis of preterm infants with sepsis. Results Cerebrospinal fluid protein content of poor prognosis group was higher than those in good prognosis group[(2005. 56 ± 582. 85)mg/L vs. (1367. 92 ± 362. 29)mg/L, t= -6. 019,P<0. 01]. The area under the ROC curve was 0. 819(95％CI 0. 711 -0. 927,P<0. 05). The optimal threshold of cerebrospinal fluid protein was 1560 mg/L with specificity of 75. 5％ and sensitivity of 81. 5％. Conclusion Cerebrospinal fluid protein content has certain diagnostic value on the assessment of sepsis premature neurological prognosis.

Characteristics of Gesell Developmental Schedules in Children with Movement Disorders / 中国康复理论与实践

@#Objective To investigate the incidence and structure of mental disability in children with movement disorders. Methods 157 children with movement disorders (103 with cerebral palsy and 54 with mental retardation) were assessed with Gesell developmental schedules,and mental disability was identified as development quotient (DQ)<75. Results The incidence of intelligence disability was 92.2% in children with cerebral palsy, including 91.2% in spastic type, and 100% in dyskinetic, mixed or dystonic type. The development of gross motor was retarded in children with spastic cerebral palsy, and gross and fine motor in children with dyskinetic cerebral palsy, compared with those with mental retardation. Conclusion It is important to focus the mental development in children with movement disorders, especially the dyskinetic cerebral palsy. Gesell developmental schedules should be used carefully to assess the mental development in children with movement disorder.