Are hypertrophic astrocytes a sufficient criterion of perinatal telencephalic leucoencephalopathy?

To determine if the presence of amphophilic globules (GL) in infant cerebral white matter was a necessary criterion of perinatal telencephalic leucoencephalopathy (PTL), the epidemiological features of infants who had PTL-that is, hypertrophic astrocytes and amphophilic globules (HA·GL)-in their cerebral white matter were compared with those of infants who had hypertrophic astrocytes, but who did not have amphophilic globules (HA·[unk]). Postmortem bacteraemia was seen much more frequently in infants with HA·GL than in infants with HA·[unk] (P<0·05). In addition, infants with HA·GL tended to die at older postnatal ages than infants with HA·[unk]. These observations are in keeping with the view that HA·GL and HA·[unk] are not epidemiologically identical. The operational definition of PTL therefore remains the occurrence of both HA and GL in infant cerebral white matter.