Acquired perinatal leukoencephalopathy.

Between 36 and 44 weeks after conception, telencephalic white matter in the newborn appears to be particularly vulnerable to insults that result in morphological disturbances. Available evidence indicates that this disorder (or group of disorders), named acquired perinatal leukoencephalopathy, reflects a decrease in blood flow through the distal vessels supplying paraventricular white matter and/or a metabolic disturbance produced by, or in response to, an infectious agent. Major advances in our understanding of the causes, mechanisms, and sequelae of acquired perinatal leukoencephalopathy may be made in the next decade because of improvement in brain imaging techniques, improved survival of high-risk babies, and relatively routine follow-up of these high-risk babies.