Neonatal neurologic examinations of very preterm infants: comparison of results with ultrasound diagnosis of periventricular hemorrhage.

Seventy infants born before 33-weeks gestation were studied by serial ultrasound brain scans from the first days of life; twenty had periventricular hemorrhage (PVH). Weekly neurologic examinations were performed from age 5 to 10 days. Only measures of passive tone could be elicited before an age equivalent to 34-weeks gestation because the infants were very sick, and many were receiving treatment with mechanical ventilation. Gestation was the most important determinant of this aspect of neurologic functioning, and no effect of time from birth was noted. Before ages equivalent to 34-weeks gestation, no significant relationship was found between measures of passive tone, including the size of the popliteal angle, and PVH diagnosed by ultrasound. At ages equivalent to 34 weeks or more, measures of active as well as passive tone and reflexes were consistently elicited. No single measure discriminated between infants with or without PVH, but serial observations indicated that persisting imbalance of active tone and clonus were only noted in infants with PVH, including 7 of the 8 infants who had PVH complicated by ventricular enlargement. It was concluded that neurologic examination does not reliably diagnose PVH during the neonatal period in sick, very preterm infants. At an age equivalent to term, it may help to distinguish infants who sustained permanent brain damage in association with neonatal PVH which may lead to adverse sequelae at follow-up.