Q: My son is 10 months old. He had a respiratory problem since birth. Due to this he had to be ventilated for one week and his bronchoscopy was also done. After that he was discharged, but was again admitted for internal bleeding. His CT scan revealed sub arachnoid haemorrhage. After 3 months his MRI revealed atrophy of left occipital lobe and parietal lobe. He is not on phenobarbitone now and is on physiotherapy for his developmental delay. He has started sitting without support and started creeping a little. He plays and laughs well with his father and myself. He shows anxiety meeting the strangers and searches around the house for new things by rolling. What problem could occur to him in future? Please advise.

A:The presence of atrophy of the left parietal and occipital areas indicates that he probably suffered a disrupted blood supply to those areas, most likely when he had a subarachnoid haemorrhage. Children at this age are blessed with brain plasticity, meaning that other neighbouring areas of the brain will try and compensate to an extent. The problems that could arise and you should be able to detect them: 1) Seizures or convulsions. Look out for any jerks that occur after he wakens from sleep. 2) Weakness or stiffness of the right arm and leg. If a child preferably uses one hand or leg before 2 years of age, you should look for weakness of the opposite limbs. Do not massage his limbs. 3) Delay in walking and/or speech 4) His developmental milestones will be periodically assessed by his Neurologist and appropriate intervention done.