This paper presents symptomatic term newborns with negative ultrasound
examination which showed intracranial bleeding demonstrated by CT sca
n, Fifty-eight term newborns with Apgars of 9-10 were referred for rep
eat CT examination of the brain with symptoms, such as apnea, disturba
nces of swallowing or sucking, impaired muscular tonus, tremor and jer
ks, The ultrasound examination in all was normal. The first CT scan wa
s performed 12-13 h after delivery, The second CT scan was performed a
t least two weeks later, Twenty-three of the patients underwent lumbar
puncture, Physical examination was performed on each patient at birth
and one week later, The clinical symptoms were still present at the t
ime of the second physical examination. Fourteen to seventeen months f
ollowing the delivery, the psychomotor development was evaluated in 29
of the children using the Gesell test, In five children, the diagnosi
s of psychomotor retardation was established which correlated with the
brain atrophy demonstrated on CT. Twenty-three newborns who underwent
lumbar puncture showed evidence of bleeding into the subarachnoid spa
ce, The blood haemoglobin levels of all the cases was below 18 g/dl. T
he first CT examination demonstrated blood in the subarachnoid space,
The second CT scan did not demonstrate any findings. Intracranial blee
ding in newborns may be associated with normal delivery, The demonstra
tion of high densities in the first CT scan, the normal second CT scan
, the blood tinged or xantochromic CSF and the normal blood haemoglobi
n levels are indicative of intracranial bleeding.