Traumatic parturitional intracranial hemorrhage.

Abstract

Twenty-five cases of intracranial hemorrhage due to injury at birth, encountered over a seven-year period, are presented. CT scans showed many different pathways of spread of tentorial hemorrhage; the likelihood of an arterial source is emphasized. Recurrent or delayed bleeding was documented twice. Surgical evacuation of hematomas was necessary in 10 cases, seven involving hemorrhage into the posterior fossa. There were three deaths, one due to pulmonary hemorrhage complicating subtentorial subdural hematoma, another due to severe central parenchymal hemorrhage and a third because of postoperative cerebellar hemorrhage due to disseminated intravascular coagulation. Three survivors are dependent on shunts, two because of the birth injury. The outcome for neurological and intellectual function depends more on associated asphyxia than on the trauma.