NEONATAL POSTHEMORRHAGIC HYDROCEPHALUS - NEUROPATHOLOGIC AND IMMUNOHISTOCHEMICAL STUDIES

A neuropathologic study was undertaken to examine associated brain dam age in patients with fetal and neonatal posthemorrhagic hydrocephalus (PHH), In PHH the association of periventricular leukomalacia and pont osubicular necrosis was not increased, but that of cerebellar subarach noid hemorrhage and olivocerebellar pathology was significantly increa sed, All patients with the olivocerebellar pathology exhibited associa ted cerebellar subarachnoid hemorrhage and loss of Purkinje cells. Fer ritin-positive glia were increased in the molecular layer of most pati ents, and glial fibrillary acidic protein-positive glia and/or fibers were increased in the molecular layer, granular layer, and white matte r in older infants, Neonates with PHH had more severe brain lesions th an those with only intraventricular hemorrhage, At 2 weeks of age in P HH, the ventricular wall displayed hemosiderin deposits and nodular gl iosis, with ependymal cell loss and subependymal rosette formation, Th ese findings may be closely related to the underlying pathogenesis and neurologic sequelae of PHH.