Prediction of postnatal developmental disabilities using the antenatal fetal neurodevelopmental test: KANET assessment

Objective: To assess the usefulness of the antenatal fetal neurodevelopmental test for the prediction of postnatal developmental disabilities. Methods: Fetal behavior was assessed with Kurjak's antenatal neurodevelopmental test (KANET) using four-dimensional ultrasound between 28 and 38 weeks of gestation. A score range of 0-5 was characterized as abnormal, from 6 to 9 was considered borderline, and 10-16 was normal. After birth, follow-up was conducted for at least 2 years in all fetuses. Results: There were 337 normal (95.47%) and 16 borderline (4.53%) cases among the 353 cases studied, whereas there was no abnormal case. Five cases with postnatal developmental disabilities (one case of Werdig-Hoffmann disease diagnosed just after delivery, one case of autism spectrum disorder diagnosed at 24 months, one case of Ullrich congenital muscular dystrophy diagnosed at 9 months and two cases of developmental disorders diagnosed at age 3 and 18 months) were noted among the 337 normal cases (1.48%), whereas three cases with developmental disabilities (one case of motor development delay diagnosed at 6 months, one case of Duchenne muscular dystrophy diagnosed at 18 months and one case of autism spectrum disorder diagnosed at age 30 months) were found among the 16 borderline cases (18.75%). There was a significant difference in the prevalence of postnatal developmental disabilities between the normal and borderline KANET groups (P < 0.001). Conclusion: Our results suggest that the KANET assessment may be a useful diagnostic modality for the prediction of postnatal developmental disabilities.