Perinatal factors associated with early-onset intracranial hemorrhage in premature infants. A prospective study
R. Meidell, P. Marinelli and G. Pettett
Serial ultrasound examinations were performed on 40 consecutive newborn
infants less than 35 weeks' gestational age. Fifteen of 17 infants with
intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) had evidence of hemorrhage on the first
ultrasound examination (mean age, 1.9 +/- 0.2 hours post partum). Comparing
the clinical course of these 15 infants with age- and weight-matched
non-hemorrhage controls showed a significant association between the
occurrence of early ICH and the pattern of labor. There was no correlation
between ICH and the mode of delivery, the use of sodium bicarbonate, volume
administration, or the initial BP. In nine of the 15 infants with
early-onset ICH, the hemorrhage progressed in severity during the first
three postpartum days in association with increasing ventilatory
requirements. The results of this study suggest that the course of labor
may be a precipitating factor in the onset and evolution of early ICH.
