Transcranial Ultrasound in Comparison to MRI in Evaluation of Hypoxic Ischemic Injury in Neonates

Abstract

Background: Hypoxic-ischemic injury is the most common cause of encephalopathy in newborns. Objectives: The goal of our study was to demonstrate the role of transcranial ultrasound (TCUS) compared to MRI in assessment of neonatal encephalopathy. Patients and methods: Consecutive thirty sex neonates with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) were included. All cases had undergone MR imaging as well as transcranial ultrasound study of the brain. The study was conducted between May 2015 and September 2017. They were collected from the Neonatology Intensive Care Unit at Elsayed Galal and El-Demerdash University Hospitals. Results: Our study found that stages I and II showed mild to moderate HIE presented with peripheral pattern and white matter injuries while stage III revealed severe HIE presented with central pattern of injury (BGT). In addition, our study reported that all patients with stage III of HIE showed severe central pattern on MRI. Conclusion: MRI imaging is considered a sensitive technique in detecting different MR patterns of encephalopathy in newborns. MRI placed other imaging modalities in diagnostic assessment and early predictor of future development of neurological abnormalities in neonates with encephalopathy.