Neurodevelopmental Consequences of Preterm Isolated Cerebellar Hemorrhage: A Systematic Review

The effect of neonatal cerebellar hemorrhage on neurodevelopmental outcome (NDO) in the absence of supratentorial injury is still largely unknown.

To evaluate the influence of isolated neonatal cerebellar hemorrhage on cognitive, motor, language, and behavioral NDOs and assess the effect of location and size on outcome.

Embase, Medline, and Scopus were searched from inception to September 30, 2017.

Studies in which a diagnosis of isolated cerebellar hemorrhage was reported in preterm infants (<32 weeks' gestation) with a standardized NDO at ≥12 months of age were included.

Patient characteristics, location, and size of bleeding and NDO (defined as severe [yes or no] on the basis of given cutoff points) in 4 domains were extracted.

Of the 1519 studies identified, 8 were included in final analyses. Of infants with isolated cerebellar hemorrhage, 128 were described (cumulative incidence: 2.3%). The incidence of severe delay in cognition, motor, language, and behavioral development was 38%, 39%, 41%, and 38%, respectively. The overall incidence of severe neurodevelopmental delay in ≥1 domain ranged from 43% to 75% and was most seen in infants with vermis involvement (87%-93%) and with large bleeds (46%-82%).

Different neurodevelopmental scales lead to data heterogeneity, and reporting of data on a group level limited possibilities for an outcome description on an individual level.

Of infants with isolated cerebellar hemorrhage, 43% to 75% were severely delayed in cognition, motor, language, and/or behavioral development, with the highest incidence with vermis involvement and with large bleeds.