Early and Late Neuropathological Changes in Perinatal White Matter Damage

Abstract

Our material presents two patterns of white matter lesions in the brain of newborns dying with the clinical diagnosis of intrauterine or perinatal pathology: (1) classical periventricular ischemic infarction resulting in coagulative necrosis and (2) diffuse periventricular colliquative necrosis, in some cases involving the center of the cerebral convolutions. The majority of cases did not survive the first month of life. The cases with longer survival (up to six years) presented clinically with the syndrome of bilateral spastic cerebral palsy. Neuropathological examination showed dilation of the lateral ventricles, small cavities, and diffuse glial scars, not only in the periventricular white matter but also involving the axis of cerebral convolutions, as opposed to the relative sparing of cerebral cortex and other brain structures. These changes could be considered as evident or putative forms of a distinct type of perinatal brain damage. (J Child Neurol 1989;4:291-298).