Table. Characteristics of 104 newborns with microcephaly seen at 2 referral hospitals, Pernambuco State, Brazil, August–December 2015*.
| Finding | Severe microcephaly, no. positive/no. tested (%) | Microcephaly, no. positive/no. tested (%) | p value† |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mother | |||
| Gestational age of newborn, N = 104 | |||
| At term, 37 wks to 41 wks 6 d | 59/70 (84) | 34/34 (100) | 0.019 |
| Preterm, <37 wks | 10/70 (14) | 0/34 (0) | |
| Postterm, >42 wks | 1/70 (1) | 0/34 (0) | |
| Self-reported rash during pregnancy, n = 100 |
41/68 (60) |
18/32 (56) |
0.702 |
| Newborn‡ | |||
| Female sex, N = 104 | 38/70 (54) | 16/34 (47) | 0.489 |
| Brain CT scan or MRI, n = 58 | |||
| Calcifications | 43/45 (96) | 11/13 (85) | 0.208 |
| Malformation of cortical development, including lissencephaly | 32/45 (71) | 8/13 (61) | 0.517 |
| Ventriculomegalia | 32/45 (71) | 6/13 (46) | 0.102 |
| Abnormal findings in transfontanellar ultrasound, n = 32 | 23/23 (100) | 6/7 (86) | 0.092 |
| Abnormal findings in fundoscopy,§ n = 33 | 8/29 (28) | 0/4 (0) | 0.550 |
| Abnormal findings in OAE,§ n = 23 | 2/16 (12) | 0/7 (0) | 1.000 |
| Newborn serology | |||
| Nontreponemal syphilis test, n = 62 | 2/42 (5) | 1/20 (5) | 1.000 |
| Dengue virus IgM, n = 34 | 2/25 (8) | 0/9 (0) | 1.000 |
| Cytomegalovirus IgM, n = 33 | 0/24 (0) | 0/9 (0) | NA |
| Cytomegalovirus IgG, n = 34 | 19/23 (83) | 8/11 (73) | 0.245 |
| Toxoplasmosis IgM, n = 44 | 0/37 (0) | 0/7 (0) | NA |
| Toxoplasmosis IgG, n = 47 | 24/39 (61) | 5/8 (62) | 1.000 |
| Rubella IgM, n = 54 | 0/42 (0) | 0/12 (0) | NA |
| Rubella IgG, n = 88 | 55/56 (98) | 28/32 (87) | 0.396 |
| Herpes IgM, n = 19 | 1/15 (7) | 0/4 (0) | 1.000 |
| Herpes IgG, n = 18 | 13/14 (93) | 4/4 (100) | 1.000 |
*Severe microcephaly, head circumference <30 cm; microcephaly, head circumference 30–32 cm. CT, computed tomography; MRI, magnetic resonance imaging; NA, not applicable; OAE, otoacoustic emission test;. †χ2 comparing frequencies between the 2 groups. ‡Of the 98 infants with documented birthweight, average weight was 2,716 g (range 1,630–3,890 g) for term and postterm newborns and 1,918 g (range 1,135–2,580 g) for preterm. §Of the 33 children examined by fundoscopy, 24% had abnormal findings, including rarefaction of the retinal pigment epithelium, atrophic macular lesions, macular scarring and macular reflection juxtafoveal changes. Of the 23 children tested with OAE, 9% had an abnormal result. The frequency of abnormal results in preterm vs. term and postterm newborns for OAE and fundoscopy was similar (<30%).