Types of acute hypoxic-ischemic brain injury due to perinatal sentinel events in neonates / 中国当代儿科杂志

ABSTRACT

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the clinical and imaging characteristics of acute hypoxic-ischemic brain injury (HIBI) due to perinatal sentinel events in neonates.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Forty-six neonates with acute HIBI who were admitted between January 2004 and May 2013, and who had a history of major cardiopulmonary resuscitation, were enrolled in the study. They were classified into full-term and preterm infants to analyze the clinical and imaging characteristics.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Among full-term infants, the incidence rates of white matter injury, cortical injury, basal ganglia /thalamic injury, and brain stem injury were 95%, 90%, 75%, and 65%, respectively; among preterm infants, the incidence rates of white matter injury, cortical injury, basal ganglia/thalamic injury, and brain stem injury were 73%, 23%, 19%, and 15%, respectively. Compared with full-term infants, preterm infants had a significantly lower incidence of gray matter injury in the cortex, basal ganglia/thalamus, and brain stem (P<0.05). About 46% of all subjects had multiple organ dysfunction. The 20 full-term infants with HIBI had typical clinical manifestations; 19 (95%) of them had moderate or severe neonatal encephalopathy, with mixed lesions on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and moderate or severe basal ganglia/thalamic injury was found in 68% of these patients. Multiple organ dysfunction, various abnormal neurological manifestations, and arterial blood pH less than 7.1 were closely related to moderate or severe brain injury.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>White matter injury is the most common type of HIBI. Gray matter injury can be found in preterm infants, but the incidence is lower than that in full-term infants. Moderate or severe neonatal encephalopathy is mainly manifested as basal ganglia/thalamic injury on MRI. Evaluation of multiple organ dysfunction and abnormal neurological manifestations and early blood gas analysis are very important for the diagnosis of neonatal HIBI.</p>