HEAD-INJURIES INCIDENT TO BIRTH

Birth-related head injuries are rare (1%) in countries where most deli veries are medically-assisted but nevertheless account for 50% of birt h-related traumas. Most are minimally severe, resolving spontaneously (cephalhematoma, fractures) or requiring minor surgery (ping-pong ball fracture, extradural hematoma); when they are isolated, there lesions do not usually result in permanent neurologic impairment. The prognos is is far more reserved in patients with intradural lesions, of which the most common and most severe are subdural hematomas.