Fetal and Neonatal this issue
| The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below. |
Pierrat and colleagues from France and the Netherlands
remind us that repeated cranial ultrasound scanning is necessary in order not to miss the important diagnosis of periventricular
leukomalacia (page 152). The incidence of cystic PVL in their cohort of
almost 3500 babies was very low at 2.8% (96 cases). This large study provides some interesting information on timing, because the first cranial ultrasound scan was performed on admission to the neonatal unit; seven babies already had cystic change apparent at that time. In
most of the remainder, there was an echodensity apparent on the first
scan which subsequently evolved into cysts. Cysts mostly developed
within four weeks of birth. Virtually all of the infants who developed
extensive periventricular cystic lesions had cerebral palsy at follow
up, whereas 29/39 of those with small localised cysts had CP. Only
three of the first (extensive) group achieved independent
Register for free content
The full back archive is now available for all BMJ Journals. Institutional subscribers may access the entire archive as part of their subscription. Personal subscribers will also have access to all content when logged in. Non-subscribers who register have free access to all articles published before 2006 right back to volume 1 issue 1. Register here to access the free archive of all BMJ Journals.
Don't forget to sign up for content alerts so you keep up to date with all the articles as they are published.
