Discussion
Our study demonstrated a broad spectrum of germinal matrix-related hemorrhage in the premature neonate, ranging from isolated germinal matrix hemorrhage to massive intraventricular hemorrhage with extension into the brain parenchyma. Cerebroventricular hemorrhage has been found at autopsy in 55%- 75% of premature newborns who died from any cause [2, 4, 7]. The CT diagnosis of cerebroventricular hemorrhage in 22 of the 35 (63%) deaths in our series agrees with these figures.
However, there has been no way to determine whether or not the rate found at autopsy could be extrapolated to the entire at-risk population. We found an incidence of 44% in all premature infants (survivors and nonsurvivors weighing less than 1 500 g studied by CT on one occasion between the fourth and seventh day of life.