Prenatal cocaine exposure and cranial sonographic findings in preterm infants.
OBJECTIVE
Prenatal cocaine exposure has been linked with subependymal hemorrhage and the formation of cysts that are detectable on cranial sonography in neonates born at term. We sought to determine if prenatal cocaine exposure increases the incidence of subependymal cysts in preterm infants.


METHODS
We retrospectively reviewed the medical records and cranial sonograms obtained during a 1-year period on 122 premature (< 36 weeks of gestation) infants. Infants were categorized into 1 of 2 groups: those exposed to cocaine and those not exposed to cocaine. Infants were assigned to the cocaine-exposed group if there was a maternal history of cocaine abuse during pregnancy or if maternal or neonatal urine toxicology results were positive at the time of delivery.


RESULTS
Five of the 122 infants were excluded from the study because of insufficient medical and drug histories. The incidence of subependymal cysts in the 117 remaining infants was 14% (16 of 117). The incidence of subependymal cysts in infants exposed to cocaine prenatally was 44% (8 of 18) compared with 8% (8 of 99) in the unexposed group (p < 0.01).


CONCLUSIONS
We found an increased incidence of subependymal cyst formation in preterm infants who were exposed to cocaine prenatally. This result is consistent with results of similar studies in term infants.
Smith
L M
LM
Department of Pediatrics, University of California, Los Angeles, School of Medicine, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Torrance 90502, USA.
Qureshi
N
N
Renslo
R
R
Sinow
R M
RM
D001927:Brain Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000209:etiology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003042:Cocaine / Q000009:adverse effects*; D019970:Cocaine-Related Disorders; D003560:Cysts / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000209:etiology; D004453:Echoencephalography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007235:Infant, Premature, Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000209:etiology; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects
D003042:Cocaine