MRI Brain in Perinatal Hypoxia – A Case Series

Background: HIE is one of the most common cause of neonatal deaths and morbidity in children. Due to limited facilities in India, many a times HIE goes undetected only to present in later stages of life as handicapped children. Objective: To study the Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) brain findings in children having suffered perinatal hypoxia, to analyze MRI findings in brain based on time of perinatal hypoxia. Material and Methods: A prospective Study was conducted on 100 patients suffered with perinatal hypoxia on Siemens 1.5 Tesla MAGNATOM AVANTO machine. Patterns of hypoxic ischemic brain injury in preterm and term infants of were evaluated. Results: Out of 100 cases, 72% were abnormal and 28% were normal studies. 36 %patients were preterms and 64% had term delivery. In patients with term delivery, 28.1 % were normal and 71.8 % were abnormal. In patients with preterm delivery, 72.3% cases were found to be abnormal while 27.7 % cases did not show any significant abnormality. Conclusion: MRI was a definitive diagnostic modality in perinatal hypoxia. Patterns of brain injury were determined by nature, timing and severity of insult. Imaging appearances were influenced by sequences used and time from injury.