Posterior fossa hemorrhage in the term newborn: report of two cases

Two term newborn infants born by frank breech delivery had posterior fossa hemorrhage diagnosed by CT scan within the first 72 hours of life and underwent successful surgical drainage of hematoma. Previously reported cases with long-term postoperative survival have included 12 term newborns with good outcome in nine. Most remaining reported examples of posterior fossa hemorrhage in newborns have been from autopsy reports on premature infants. It is suggested that operative intervention is often indicated in cases of early neonatal posterior fossa hemorrhage and that additional data on long-term outcome of operative intervention as well as outcome in nonoperated cases are needed. One of the two cases reported here and one previously reported presented with onset of seizures as the initial clinical manifestation.