An appraisal of techniques for studying cerebral circulation in the newborn. Report of a mini-symposium held in September 1982.

The study of cerebral circulation in ill pre-term infants is important both to improve our understanding of the physiological aspects of cerebral blood flow control, and to provide further insight into the aetiology of intracranial intra-ventricular haemorrhage. Progress in this field has been hampered by the absence of measurement techniques which must be safe and clinically applicable whilst at the same time providing results with sufficient quality for the confident development of hypotheses. The symposium was held in order to evaluate critically the measurement techniques which might be considered for use in the sick, human newborn infant.