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Infection and white matter damage. William Tarnow-Mordi. Types of white matter injury. Diffuse white matter damage * Periventricular leukomalacia Intraventricular haemorrhage Punctate haemorrhagic/ ischaemic lesions *
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Infection and white matter damage William Tarnow-Mordi
Types of white matter injury • Diffuse white matter damage* • Periventricular leukomalacia • Intraventricular haemorrhage • Punctate haemorrhagic/ ischaemic lesions* • Periventricular haemorrhagic infarction** detection by ultrasound unreliable: MRI scanning is the gold standard
Diffuse white matter abnormality • Most preterm babies have diffuse white matter abnormality on MRI scan when they reach term equivalent • This has been attributed to poor nutrition, infection, postnatal steroids • Associated with ?vasogenic oedema, oligodendrocyte dysfunction or reduced axonal diameter
Periventricular leukomalacia • Histological diagnosis with “softening” of the white matter and focal cystic degeneration • Occurs in 3 - 9% of all preterm babies < 30 weeks gestation • Previously attributed to ischaemia, typically evolving 2 - 6 weeks after hypotensive insult • Now also attributed to infection
Periventricular leukomalacia • On histology there is cytotoxic oedema, macrophage infiltration and apoptosis (programmed cell death) • Also associated with delayed myelination, probably because of glial necrosis and oligodendrocyte dysfunction
Debillon et al • Inoculated bacterial endotoxin (lipopolysaccharide) into uterus with 14 fetal rabbits at 80% of term pregnancy • delivered the fetuses 12, 24 and 48 hr later • after 48 hours, histology showed extensive programmed cell death (apoptosis), with periventricular leukomalacia and periventricular cyst formation
Furthermore, low doses of LPS that by themselves have no adverse effects in 7-day-old rats (corresponding to term human fetus), dramatically increase brain injury to a subsequent hypoxic-ischemic challenge, implicating that bacterial products can sensitize the immature CNS
Volpe: Pediatric Research 2003 • Three interacting, maturation-dependent factors predispose to PVL • immature vascular supply to cerebral white matter • impairment of cerebral blood flow autoregulation • vulnerability of oligodendrocyte • to attack by free radicals • particularly after ischaemia-reperfusion injury
Leviton and Gillies 1976 • Reviewed autopsies and notes of 40 infants with perinatal telencephalic leuco-encephalopathy (PTL) • Compared with 76 infants who died without PTL • PTL more common after • bacterial gram negative septicaemia • ? Endotoxin damages developing white matter
Brain damage Infection / inflammation is an important proposed pathway in neonatal brain damage Dammann & Leviton, Pediatrics 1999