Unilateral parenchymal haemorrhagic infarction in the preterm infant

• Published in: European Journal of Paediatric Neurology Vol. 5; no. 4; pp. 139 - 149
• Main Authors: de Vries, Linda S, Roelants-van Rijn, Ariadne M, Rademaker, Karin J, van Haastert, Ingrid C, Beek, Frederik JA, Groenendaal, Floris
• Format: Book Review Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01.07.2001
• Subjects: Cerebral Hemorrhage - diagnosis; Cerebral Infarction - diagnosis; Cerebral Ventricles; Diseases in Twins; Echoencephalography; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Humans; Infant; Infant, Newborn; Infant, Premature, Diseases - diagnosis; Leukomalacia, Periventricular - diagnosis; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Neurologic Examination; Preterm, Venous infarction, Parenchymal haemorrhage, Cranial ultrasound, MRI, Cerebral palsy; Prognosis; Preterm, Venous infarction, Parenchymal haemorrhage, Cranial ultrasound, MRI, Cerebral palsy
• ISSN: 1090-3798; 1532-2130
• DOI: 10.1053/ejpn.2001.0494

A unilateral parenchymal haemorrhage associated with a germinal matrix–intraventricular haemorrhage (GMH–IVH) is still an important problem in the preterm infant and especially in those who are very immature. This type of lesion is now considered mainly to be caused by impaired drainage of the veins in the periventricular white matter and is often referred to as a venous infarction. The risk factors and neonatal imaging findings, as well as neurodevelopmental outcome and imaging data in infancy, of this type of lesion differ from those found in children with bilateral periventricular leukomalacia. An effort should, therefore, always be made to make a distinction between these two types of lesions. In our experience it is possible to make this distinction in most cases, when performing both sequential ultrasonography as well as selective magnetic resonance imaging during the neonatal period.