Posthemorrhagic hydrocephalus. Low incidence in very low birth weight neonates with intraventricular hemorrhage.

In addition to seizures and long-term neurodevelopmental handicaps, infants with intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) are at risk for posthemorrhagic hydrocephalus (PHH), and the incidence of this problem in preterm infants with known IVH has been reported to vary from 25% to 74%. Over a 46-month period, 438 neonates of 1250-gm birth weight or less were admitted to this Newborn Special Care Unit, and 269 survived the first 36 postnatal hours. Of these, 265 patients underwent computerized tomography and/or cranial ultrasound scanning for evaluation of germinal matrix and/or intraventricular hemorrhage (GMH/IVH): 133 infants were found to have experienced GMH/IVH, and 27 of these died within the 1st postnatal week. Of the 95 survivors with GMH/IVH, 43 were known to have GMH only; the other 52 experienced IVH and were therefore at risk for PHH. Patients with GMH/IVH underwent repeat investigations for the development of ventriculomegaly and possible PHH. Only five patients with IVH developed PHH, defined as ventriculomegaly, elevated intracranial pressure, and increasing occipitofrontal head circumference. Serial cranial ultrasound studies of 95 other consecutively admitted patients in this birth-weight range revealed an equal incidence (45%) of low intracranial pressure ventriculomegaly in both the hemorrhage and non-hemorrhage groups, but none of them required shunting for hydrocephalus. One infant with congenital aqueductal stenosis was also identified.