Prenatally Diagnosed Fetal Brain Injuries with Known Antenatal Etiologies

Abstract

Periventricular leukomalacia of pre- or postnatal onset is responsible for severe neurological and intellectual impairment and cerebral palsy later in life. The etiology is multifactorial, involving hypoxic-ischemic insults of various origin. The disorder is characterized by multiple necrotic foci of the white matter found most frequently adjacent to the lateral ventricles. In the past, intrapartum factors were thought to be the major cause of neonatal brain damage, but recent investigations highlighted the role of antenatal risk factors. We present 4 cases of antenatally diagnosed brain injury with known and unusual etiology.

New Insights into the Anterior Complex

“…1f), is the focus of the most frequent form of hypoxic-ischemic lesion in the preterm infant. Recently, white matter injury (previously more commonly referred to as "periventricular leukomalacia") has been increasingly associated with the prenatal period [9,10]. Both in the fetal and in the neonatal population, the pathogenesis of white matter injury is multifactorial and can be divided into three mechanisms: ischemia, inflammation, and excitotoxity/free radical attack [9,[11][12][13].…”