The purposes of this study are (1) to describe a "late-onset" form of cysti
c periventricular leukomalacia eventually appearing in premature infants wh
ose neurological assessments were normal in the first month of life; (2) to
retrospectively evaluate its incidence among a large population of prematu
re infants; (3) to suggest that a few unexpected complications of prematuri
ty may trigger the development of white matter damage, even several weeks a
fter birth. Retrospective study in a population of 1452 surviving infants a
fter 5 days born before 33 weeks. We identified 10 cases of late-onset cyst
ic periventricular leukomalacia appearing beyond the first 5 weeks of life.
In 8 cases, an intercurrent event associated with a systemic inflammatory
response preceded the appearance of cysts: necrotizing enterocolitis (n = 5
), septicemia (n = 2 cases), strangulated inguinal hernia in one infant. Ne
urological surveillance should be repeated until discharge in very preterm
infants, especially after the occurrence of an intercurrent complication co
ming along with a systemic inflammatory response.