Role of the fetus in perinatal infection and neonatal brain damage

Increasing evidence supports the view that infants exposed to perinatal inf ection are at increased risk for brain injury, We suggest that elevated cyt okines in the amniotic fluid or in the fetal circulation be viewed as a hum oral expression and that inflammatory cells in chorionic plate or umbilical cord blood vessel walls be viewed as a morphologic expression of the fetal inflammatory response. We discuss the evidence supporting the hypothesis t hat the fetal inflammatory response contributes to neonatal brain injury an d later developmental disability. Little support has been found for a mater nal contribution. Intervention should be designed with the fetus in mind. C urr Opin Pediatr 2000, 12:99-104 (C) 2000 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, In c.