Neonatal brain injury

Complacency about long-term outcomes in newborns is being eroded rapidly wi th new information. We have examined developments in the area from an expli citly clinical approach, focusing on etiology, diagnostic modalities, and t herapies. We attempt to discuss relevance from the preterm and the term per spective. Emerging evidence implicating chorioamnionitis as a significant c ontributor to neonatal brain injury is discussed. Therapeutic modalities su ch as magnetic resonance imaging and electrophysiological monitoring offer some potentially new tools for the clinician. An exploding series of basic advances suggest several potentially new strands of therapy, We discuss two that deserve further clinical exploration, namely anti-inflammatory strate gies and thread hormone supplementation. In the arena of therapy, however, the paucity of large trials from which to guide therapies is a predominant theme, leaving a targe reservoir of uncertainty for the clinician. Curr Opi n Pediatr 2001, 13:227-233 (C) 2001 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Inc.