INCIDENCE OF ISCHEMIC-HEMORRHAGIC CEREBRAL-LESIONS IN PREMATURE-INFANTS OF GESTATIONAL-AGE LESS-THAN-OR-EQUAL-TO-28 WEEKS - A PROSPECTIVE ULTRASOUND STUDY

While it is well accepted that the incidence of intraventricular hemor rhage (IVH) increases with decreasing gestational age (GA), the majori ty of studies report their findings on the basis of birthweight (BW) r ather than GA. Over a 5-year period, 199 infants born at or below 28 w eeks of gestation were entered into a prospective cranial ultrasound s tudy stratified according to GA. One hundred and five (53%) had normal ultrasound findings. The overall incidence of IVH, as expected, rose with decreasing GA but we were unable to show any clear influence of B W or growth retardation on its occurrence. Incidence of grades I, IIa, IIb and III IVH were 8, 10, 16 and 11%, respectively. Leukomalacia, b leeding in the posterior fossa and in the cerebellum occurred in 4, 7 and 2% of the population, respectively.