Perinatal risk factors for the development of extensive cystic leukomalacia
L. S. de Vries, R. Regev, L. M. Dubowitz, A. Whitelaw and V. R. Aber
Department of Paediatrics and Neonatal Medicine, Royal Postgraduate Medical School, Hammersmith Hospital, London.
Seventeen infants with extensive cystic leukomalacia without associated
intraventricular hemorrhages were compared with 34 infants with normal
cranial ultrasound findings and 34 infants with large intraventricular
hemorrhages to establish whether different risk factors could be elicited
for these lesions. Adverse obstetric factors that were associated with
extensive leukomalacia were the place of birth (outborn [ie, not born at
our hospital but transferred here after delivery]) and the need for
emergency cesarean section. Neonatal risk factors, with the exception of
gestational age, were equally distributed between the infants with the two
types of lesions. The results of this study suggest that extensive cystic
leukomalacia and large hemorrhages have similar predisposing factors, but
the type of lesion that develops depends on the maturity of the infant.
