LOW CEREBRAL BLOOD FLOW IN HYPOTENSIVE PERINATAL DISTRESS

Abstract

Hypoxic brain injury is the most important neurological problem in the neonatal period and accounts for more neurological deficits in children than any other lesion. The neurological deficits are notably mental retardation, epilepsy and cerebral palsy. The pathogenesis is poorly understood. Arterial hypoxia is the obvious mechanism but does not fully explain the patho-anatomical findings. Arterial blood pressure and the cerebral blood flow were examined in 8 infants a few hours after birth. The 133Xe clearance technique was used for the cerebral blood flow measurements. The study confirmed that perinatal distress may be associated with low arterial blood pressure, and it was shown that cerebral blood flow was very low, 20 ml/100 g per min or less, in hypotensive perinatal distress. Apparently cerebral ischemia plays a crucial role in the development of perinatal hypoxic brain injury.