Hemorrhagic and hypoxic-ischemic intracranial lesions in neonates diagnosed by realtime sonography: incidence and short-term outcome.

887 neonates at risk, referred to our neonatal unit underwent serial cranial ultrasound examinations and neurological follow-up over a period of 2 years. Our study focused on the prognosis of hemorrhagic and hypoxic-ischemic intracranial lesions. 194 patients with hemorrhages (subependymal hemorrhages [SEH] I degree-IV degrees according to Papile, hemorrhages of the choroid plexus [CPH], primarily intraparenchymal hemorrhages [PIH]) and/or hypoxic-ischemic lesions (infarcts of the major intracranial arteries and lesions of the periventricular white matter) were neurologically followed-up 12 to 24 months postnatally. A group of 266 patients with normal ultrasound scans out of the same population was equally followed-up and served as a control group. At the age of 12 months a preliminary neurodevelopmental diagnosis was made and the patients were divided into 3 groups. Group N (normal) had a normal neuromotor outcome, group S (suspect) showed minor neurological abnormalities without evidence of cerebral palsy and/or a developmental quotient between 80 and 90. Group A (abnormal) included patients with any degree of cerebral palsy (CP) and/or a development quotient below 80. A normal neurological outcome was seen in 88.3% of patients without intracranial lesion and in a comparable proportion of patients with SEH I degree (88.9%), SEH II degrees (84.8%) and CPH (81.3%). Patients with SEH III degrees developed normally in 72.7%, whereas only 25% of patients with SEH IV degrees and PIH were neurological normal at 12 months of age. For detailed statistical evaluation only preterm neonates (birthweight below 2500 grms) with and without hemorrhagic lesions were compared. Concerning the neurological short-term outcome our analysis revealed no statistically significant difference between patients with SEH I degrees, II degrees, III degrees, CPH and the control group. SEH IV degrees and PIH showed a unfavourable outcome. Only 2/8 surviving patients had a normal development, but small numbers of patients made a statistical analysis impossible. Two children with infarcts of the middle cerebral artery developed spastic hemiplegia of the contralateral body side. One child with an infarct of the posterior cerebral artery developed normally until the age of 1 year, but could not be followed-up further. Patients with periventricular lesions showed a normal neuromotor development in 88.9% and 75% when they had solitary periventricular cysts or wedge-shaped periventricular lesions, whereas none of 9 children who suffered from extensive cystic periventricular leucomalacia was neurologically normal at the age of 1 year.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)