Cerebrovascular regulation and neonatal brain injury.

Neuropathology occurring as a result of hemodynamic injury occurs in up to 25% of preterm newborns of less than 1,500 gm birth weight and in a much smaller, but nonetheless meaningful, proportion of more mature infants. Abnormalities in cerebrovascular regulation have been proposed as major contributing factors to both ischemic and hemorrhagic injuries in the newborn brain. In this review we explore several factors that play a role in cerebrovascular regulation in the immature brain and relate them to what is known about vascular regulation in the mature brain and to the types of pathology that occur in the newborn brain. One goal in this "decade of the brain" should be to increase our basic and clinical knowledge about the cerebrovasculature of the newborn in order to enhance our ability to predict and prevent perinatal brain injury.