00:01
So let’s move on to the next issue of prematurity
which is intraventricular hemorrhage.
00:06
This is bleeding in the brain
which can happen usually
as a result of difficulty
around the peripartum period.
00:12
Perhaps, there was some late decelerations
or placenta abrupta or something.
00:18
Basically, this is bleeding at the
subependymal germinal matrix of the brain.
00:23
This happens in 25-40%
of premature infants.
00:28
So we routinely do head
ultrasounds on all of these kids.
00:33
There are certain risk
factors for worse bleeds.
00:35
One is extreme prematurity
and the other is hypotension,
hypothermia, metabolic acidosis
or thrombocytopenia in
the peripartum period.
00:45
So these can vary from being
essentially asymptomatic
and having no consequences at all
to being completely catastrophic.
00:55
Eighty percent will occur within
the first three days after birth.
00:59
So the symptoms patients have if
they’re having a symptomatic IVH,
may be apnea where they hold their breath.
01:06
They may have a seizure and the
seizures can be very subtle.
01:10
They may have sudden anemia because
they bled into their brain.
01:13
They may develop hypotension
from blood loss
or they may develop hypertension
from increased ICP.
01:22
We generally breakdown
these bleeds into
how severe they are because it
give us some prognostic ability.
01:29
Grade 1 bleeds tend to be not so bad
or very mild is PVL or
periventricular leukomalacia.
01:37
Grade 1 bleeds involve
just the germinal matrix.
01:41
A grade 2 bleed involves up
to 50% of the ventricle.
01:47
A grade 3 bleed is more
than 50% of the ventricle
and a grade 4 bleed such as you can
see here with that white stuff,
that’s all blood, that’s
a parenchymal bleed.
01:58
It’s bled into the parenchyma and
these have a much worse prognosis.
02:02
Rarely, something
like this can show up
where the blood has actually prevented
drainage of the CSF out of the ventricle
and this baby may well need a
shunt and has hydrocephalus.
02:14
So the prognosis, like I said,
depends on the severity of bleed.
02:18
Generally, grade 1s do well.
02:20
A grade 3, about 60% of those patients
will have neurodevelopmental problems.
02:26
In grade 4, 90% will have severe sequelae.
02:31
This is a bad prognostic finding.
02:33
In a severe bleed, where there is increased IVH,
this is a surgical emergency, and typically the neurosurgeon will put in an extraventricular drainage device to relieve the pressure.
02:46
In more mild bleeds, you might treat supportively. It really depends on the IVH.
02:53
It also depends on when you pick it up.
02:57
So that’s my review of the common
complications of prematurity in infants.
03:03
Thanks for your time.