[Intraventricular hemorrhage in healthy newborn infants at term]

Cases of intraventricular haemorrhage in full term newborn reported in the literature are scarce and etiopathological factors responsive remain unclear. Authors report a series of four full term infants weighting normal for their gestational age, who developed intraventricular hemorrhage, without any previous etiological factor. Seizures were the onset in all the newborns and, two of them prothrombin test was decreased. Diagnosis was confirmed by cranial ultrasonographic and CT scan after Papilla's classification. Haemorrhage was grade IV in two cases, grade III in another and grade I in the last case. One of the patients died in neonatal period, and the three others developed hydrocephalus. Two of them required ventriculo peritoneal shunt. Follow-up was carried from 14 months to 4 years. Authors found that infants who developed widespread haemorrhage had a poor neurologic outcome.