title: Cerebellar hemorrhage in extremely low birth weight siblings: is there a familial disposition?
abstract: Cerebellar hemorrhage is an underrecognized complication in the preterm neonate. It is multifactorial including combined maternal, intrapartum, and early postnatal factors. We present the case of 2 preterm brothers, 24 + 1 and 24 + 3 weeks of gestation, who both died because of cerebellar hemorrhage. We sought familial pathogenic factors predisposing to cerebellar hemorrhage. Cerebral imaging performed by ultrasonography through the anterior fontanel was normal and showed no signs of bleeding or brain edema. Postmortem neuropathologic findings confirmed cerebellar hemorrhagic lesions in both infants. Cerebellar vessels showed no signs of morphologic disorders or malformations. There might be a hint to a familial disposition. Neonatal cranial ultrasound protocols should include brainstem and posterior fossa examination with specific scans through the mastoid fontanel.
authors.affiliation: Neonatology and Pediatric Intensive Care Medicine, Department of General Pediatrics, Heinrich-Heine-University, Duesseldorf, Germany. hemmen.sabir@med.uni-duesseldorf.de
authors.forename: Hemmen
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sabir
authors.forename: Jörg
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Felsberg
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Liebner
authors.forename: Berit
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hadzik
authors.forename: Ertan
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Mayatepek
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hoehn
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002543:Cerebral Hemorrhage / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D052577:Infant, Extremely Low Birth Weight / Q000502:physiology*; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed