title: Periventricular-intraventricular haemorrhage in low-birth-weight infants at Baragwanath Hospital.
abstract: The prevalence of periventricular-intraventricular haemorrhage (PV-IVH) among very-low-birth-weight infants at Baragwanath Hospital has not been well documented. In this prospective study, a total of 282 live-born infants with birth weights of 1,000-1,749 g were studied over a 4 1/2-month period. Every infant had at least one cranial ultrasound examination at 7-10 days of age, while one-third of non-ventilated and all ventilated infants had ultrasound examinations on days 3, 7 and 14. Where possible, all infants had a follow-up ultrasound scan at 40 weeks' post-conceptional age. The overall prevalence of PV-IVH was 53% for infants weighing less than 1,500 g at birth and 52% for infants born at less than 35 weeks' gestation, but only 12% had either grade III or grade IV haemorrhages. The prevalence and severity of PV-IVH increased with both decreasing birth weight and decreasing gestational age and was also predicted by the need for active resuscitation at birth, mechanical ventilation and the development of pneumothorax. A total of 93% of infants without PV-IVH survived, but survival decreased with increasing grade of PV-IVH. Germinal matrix cysts were noted on follow-up in 55% of surviving infants with grade I PV-IVH. Very-low-birth-weight infants at Baragwanath Hospital therefore seem to have a higher prevalence of PV-IVH when compared with reported figures, but this is due mainly to an increase in smaller haemorrhages.
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatrics, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.
authors.forename: D L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Sandler
authors.forename: P A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Cooper
authors.forename: K D
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Bolton
authors.forename: R Y
authors.initials: RY
authors.lastname: Bental
authors.forename: I D
authors.initials: ID
authors.lastname: Simchowitz
mesh_terms: D002543:Cerebral Hemorrhage / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007230:Infant, Low Birth Weight; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007235:Infant, Premature, Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D013019:South Africa / Q000453:epidemiology