Periventricular leucomalacia in neonates. Complications and sequelae.

Periventricular leucomalacia is the term used to describe cerebral infarctions occurring near the lateral ventricles in neonates. The lesion was first described by Virchow in 1867; and was reemphasized and named periventricular leucomalacia by Banker and Larroche (1962) who described 51 cases and reviewed the published cases. This unusual site for cerebral infarction occurs in the watershed area between the ventriculopetal and ventriculofugal circulations described by Van den Bergh and Vander Eecken (1968). In neonates the infarction results from failure of perfusion (ischaemia). Periventricular leucomalacia is not by itself lethal but may produce spastic quadriparesis and mental retardation in babies surviving neonatal cardiorespiratory problems (De Reuck, Chattha, and Richardson, 1972). Our purpose is to describe the haemorrhages, sometimes massive, into areas of periventricular leucomalacia, and the descending degeneration of long tracts with resulting spastic hemiplegia as a sequel to cavitation of the periventricular leucomalacia.