title: Fetal intracranial injuries in a preterm infant after maternal motor vehicle accident: a case report.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To present a case of fetal intracranial injuries in a preterm infant after maternal motor vehicle accident and to review the relevant literature.
  
  
  METHODS
  Case report.
  
  
  METHODS
  Neonatal and pediatric intensive care unit of a children's hospital.
  
  
  METHODS
  Preterm infant (gestational age, 30-6/7 wks) with intracranial injuries after maternal motor vehicle accident.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Whereas the mother had only a closed femur fracture, her infant sustained subdural, subarachnoid, and intracerebral hemorrhages in the left parietal and temporal lobes most likely attributable to direct fetal trauma. Massive fetomaternal hemorrhage may have led additionally to hypoxia-ischemia contributing indirectly to the injury. At the last follow-up visit (chronological age, 20 months; corrected age, 18 months), there was evidence of a persistent right-sided hemiparesis in an otherwise normally developed infant.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Motor vehicle accidents during pregnancy can be associated with fetal mortality and significant morbidity, even in the absence of severe maternal injuries. Direct (hemorrhagic) and indirect (hypoxic-ischemic) intracranial injuries should be actively sought with appropriate imaging studies.
authors.affiliation: Neonatal and Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, and the Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Children's Hospital of Lucerne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Cornelia F
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Hagmann
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Schmitt-Mechelke
authors.forename: Jürg H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Caduff
authors.forename: Thomas M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Berger
mesh_terms: D000063:Accidents, Traffic; D000328:Adult; D006259:Craniocerebral Trauma / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy; D049188:Prenatal Injuries; D016216:Ultrasonography, Prenatal