Computed tomography of the brain in asphyxiated infants

Perinatal hypoxic-ischemic injury is an important cause of neurological deficit in infants. The hypoxic-ischemic process causes symmetrical periventricular and subcortical hypodense lesions which represent ischemic infarcts. It is important to be able to differentiate these hypodense lesions which represent ischemic infarcts from white matter which is not well myelinated. The temporal pattern of the change in the CT findings may be helpful in differentiating hypodensities due to ischemic infarct from immature myelination.