Hypernatraemia as a cause of intracranial haemorrhage

29 definite intracranial haemorrhages and 4 suspected ones occurred during a 25-month period during which 10 072 live infants were born. There were 4 subdural haemorrhages (all fatal), 4 isolated subarachnoid haemorrhages (2 fatal), and 21 intraventricular haemorrhages (all fatal--2 beyond the neonatal period). There was no evidence of a causal relation between intraventricular haemorrhage and either hypernatraemia or large sodium intakes. There were too few cases of other types of intracranial haemorrhage to draw any aetiological conclusions.