CONGENITAL RUBELLA: PATHOGENESIS OF MOTOR DEFICITS

Abstract

Study of the motor behavior of 43 children, ages 3 to 4½ years, with major hearing loss and a history of maternal rubella revealed a relation between the character and degree of their motor deficits and the maternal gestational age at which the infection had occurred. It appears that infection during the first 4 gestational weeks results in the greatest multiple handicaps for rubella children, and that the most serious motor deficits are associated with this period of pregnancy. It was also found that locomotor activities that require the maintenance of upright posture and equilibrium are most frequently, though not seriously, affected if the rubella infection occurs between the fifth and the eighth week of gestation; the risk of motor deficits is considerably reduced if infection occurs after the eighth week of pregnancy. The result of the study supports the hypothesis that motor deficits in children with congenital rubella can be attributed to damage at specific stages of embryologic development, when the structures that will be involved in a particular motor activity are in their most crucial stage of organization and differentiation.