Injury to the Liver With Intraperitoneal Hæmorrhage in the Newborn

Rupture of the Liver in the Newborn

“…Henderson (1941) in his series of 47 cases of hepatic haemorrhage found 35 cases which were severely asphyxiated at birth. Belohradsky (1937) and Arden (1946) implicated severe congestion of the liver in asphyxia as predisposing to rupture. The frequency of associated haemorrhages other than hepatic speaks in favour of an increased bleeding tendency, such as is present in haemorrhagic disease of the newborn.…”

“…Arden (1951) and Arden et al (1955) reported three cases which were treated by transfusion of blood only and recovered. Montalvo, Soto Pradera, Fust6, Rodriguez Molina, Diaz Rousselot, Alfonso, Silverio and Portela (1955) in their series of 24 cases had four infants in whom internal haemorrhage was diagnosed clinically; the children were treated by blood transfusion only and all of them died.…”

“…Only 11 instances of survival have so far been recorded, by Rogers (1934), Arden (1946Arden ( , 1951, Potter (1952), Arden, Dique and Wrench (1955), Bret, Jamain and Coupe (1956), Greaves (1955), Mason Brown (1957) and Dennison, cited by Mason Brown. It therefore seems worth recording that we have encountered two cases of this condition within a period of four months.…”