Subependymal and intraventricular hemorrhages in the newborn.

The pathogenesis of intraventricular hemorrhage in the newborn includes that of subependymal hemorrhage (SEH), the single most common pathologic alteration seen in the brains of 417 consecutively autopsied infants. A clearly recognizable relationship of SEH to gestational age and clinical status exists in that all SEH occur in premature infants under 2500 g birthweight (although only 56% of all premature infants have SEH) and 95% of SEH occur in infants with the respiratory distress syndrome (although only 60% of infants with the respiratory distress syndrome have SEH). The pathogenesis appears to involve a combination of hypoxia, metabolic acidosis, venous stasis and rupture of the thin-walled veins so prominent in the germinal matrix.