Thesis (M.Sc.) - Cairo University - Faculty of Physical Therapy - Department of Growth and Develoment Disorders in Pediatrics

Background: Little is known about fetal movements; but it had shown a continuity of behavior from pre- to postnatal life. Purpose: To describe kinematically lower limb movements' continuity from fetal and neonatal stages. Study design: longitudinal prospective follow up study. Subjects: twenty-two healthy fetuses were assessed at 2nd and 3rd trimesters of pregnancy, and fifteen of them were reassessed at their first day of delivery. Methods: fetuses were scanned via four dimensional cine ultrasound devices. Neonates were captured using digital camera. Kinematic analysis was done for fetuses' and neonates' hip, knee and ankle joints' movement parameters: instantaneous angular positions, average joint ranges, joint angular velocity and movement unit duration. AutoCAD program was used to measure these angles. Results: At the 3rd trimester of pregnancy, hip and ankle joints, showed non-significant decrease of all movements' parameters pregnancy (p>0.05), while the knee joint showed significant decrease (p{u2264}0.05). After birth there were significant increases for all joints' parameters. Conclusion: Kinematic analyses of fetal lower limb spatiotemporal parameters indicate early detection of kicking like movement, which may reflect the processes of motor development from pre- to postnatal life

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