Intraventricular haemorrhage and periventricular leucomalacia: ultrasound and autopsy correlation.

The brains of 30 infants who died after at least one real time ultrasound scan were examined after fixation. The ultrasound diagnosis of either periventricular haemorrhage or periventricular leucomalacia was compared with the macroscopic and histological appearances. Each hemisphere was considered separately for both periventricular haemorrhage and periventricular leucomalacia. The accuracy of ultrasound diagnosis for periventricular haemorrhage was 88%, with sensitivity of 91% and specificity of 85%. The accuracy for periventricular leucomalacia was 90%, with sensitivity of 85% and specificity of 93%. Ultrasound was shown to diagnose the entire range of periventricular leucomalacia lesions. Three hemispheres showed the appearance of prolonged flare, and this correlated with extensive spongiosis and microcalcification of the periventricular white matter, although no macroscopic lesion was seen.