Developmental outcome of infants with severe intracranial-intraventricular hemorrhage and hydrocephalus with and without ventriculoperitoneal shunt.

Thirty-six infants who developed grade III and IV intraventricular hemorrhages during the neonatal period were followed up to determine their developmental quotient. All of these infants had ventriculomegaly and 15 of them required a ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunt during the neonatal period prior to discharge from Intensive Care Nursery. The mean developmental quotient for the infants with the VP shunt was 67.93. The mean developmental quotient for the infants with ventriculomegaly but no VP shunt was 88.71 (P less than 0.02). Among the nonshunted group of infants, 13 (61.9%) had developmental quotients greater than 85, and among the shunted group 5 infants (33.3%) had developmental quotients greater than 85. Fifty percent of the total group of infants had normal developmental quotients at a mean chronological age of 16.25 +/- 7.5 months (and corrected age 14 months). Infants developing posthemorrhagic hydrocephalus and requiring VP shunts had a poorer developmental outcome compared to those who did not require shunts.