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. 1983 Aug;58(8):598–604. doi: 10.1136/adc.58.8.598

Ultrasound appearance of the brain in very preterm infants and neurodevelopmental outcome at 18 months of age.

A L Stewart, R J Thorburn, P L Hope, M Goldsmith, A P Lipscomb, E O Reynolds
PMCID: PMC1628323  PMID: 6614974

Abstract

The brains of 158 consecutively admitted very preterm infants were repeatedly examined with real time ultrasound. Abnormalities, most commonly periventricular haemorrhage, were detected in 79 (50%). The 109 infants who survived were followed up until they were 16-23 months old. Major or minor neurological or developmental sequelae were found in 5 of 62 infants (8%) with normal ultrasound scans and in an identical proportion, 2 of 25 infants (8%), with uncomplicated periventricular haemorrhage. By contrast, 15 of 21 infants (71%) whose ventricles became enlarged (with or without periventricular haemorrhage) had abnormalities at follow up. The proportion with sequelae depended on the cause and extent of the enlargement. Three of 8 infants (38%) with mild (usually transient) ventricular distension had sequelae, compared with 3 of 4 (75%) with hydrocephalus and 9 of 9 (100%) with cerebral atrophy (2 of whom also had hydrocephalus). Adverse neurodevelopmental sequelae at follow up appeared more often to be attributable to cerebral ischaemia and infarction than to periventricular haemorrhage.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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