L'impressione di contradditorietà in alcuni studi sullo stress può dipendere dall'imprecisione terminologica. E' interessante che un altro lavoro proveniente dal medesimo centro suggerisca che nei pretermine e sottopeso lo stress del lutto aumenti la suscettibilità alla paralisi cerebrale infantile (v. sotto), mentre ciò non avverrebbe nell'autismo (articolo precedente). Sia in epidemiologia, sia in genetica, le manifestazioni cortisol-related potrebbero risultare diverse se si misura il lutto come stressor (life event) oppure come percezione di disagio (being stressed). Li J, Vestergaard M, Obel C, Precht DH, Christensen J, Lu M, Olsen J. *Prenatal Stress and Cerebral Palsy: A Nationwide Cohort Study in Denmark.* Psychosom Med. 2009 May 29. [Epub ahead of print] *Objectives*: Exposure to prenatal stress may affect neurodevelopment of the fetus, but whether this exposure increases the risk of cerebral palsy (CP) later in life is unknown. We aimed to examine the association between maternal bereavement during the prenatal time period and CP in childhood. *Methods*: We conducted a nationwide cohort study by linking information from nationwide registers. All 1,501,894 singletons born in Denmark from 1979 to 2004 were followed up from birth to the end of 2006. We identified 39,601 children whose mothers lost a close relative (child, spouse, parent, sibling) during pregnancy or up to 1 year before pregnancy and they were classified as the exposed group. The outcome of interest was the diagnosis of CP as registered in the National Hospital Register. We used Cox Regression to estimate the hazard ratios (HRs). *Results*: Exposure to maternal bereavement after the loss of a child during the prenatal period was associated with an increased risk of CP among children born preterm without intrauterine growth retardation (HR 2.26, 95% CI, 1.09-3.79) and among children born at term with intrauterine growth retardation (HR 2.01, 95% CI, 1.04-3.89). Prenatal stress after maternal bereavement by loss of other relatives was not associated with an increased risk of CP. *Conclusions*: Our data suggest that extremely severe stress in prenatal life could increase the susceptibility for CP among children born preterm or with impaired fetal growth. Saluti cordiali - SPal.