PURPOSE:
To analyze the relationship between route of delivery and other aspects of pregnancy and the occurrence of intracranial hemorrhage in newborns of very low weight at a teaching hospital in South Brazil.
METHODS:
A case-control study was conducted. Medical records of all patients who were born weighing ≤1,500 g and who were submitted to transfontanellar ultrasonography were analyzed from January 2011 to September 2014. The cases were newborns with diagnosis of intracranial hemorrhage, while newborns with regular exams were used as controls. Differences between groups were analyzed by the Student t test and by χ2 or Fisher exact tests, and association was determined using the odds ratio with a 95% confidence interval and α=5%.
RESULTS:
A total of 222 newborns with birth weight ≤1,500 g were recorded; of these, 113 were submitted to transfontanellar ultrasonography and were included in the study. Sixty-nine (61.1%) newborns were diagnosed with intracranial hemorrhage (cases) and 44 (38.9%) showed no abnormal results (controls). Most cases had grade I hemorrhage (96.8%) originating from the germinative matrix (95.7%). The predominant route of delivery was caesarean section (81.2% of the cases and 72.7% of the controls). Five deaths were recorded (3 cases and 2 controls). Gestational age ranged from 24 to 37 weeks. Median birth weight was 1,205 g (range: 675-1,500 g). The median time of hospitalization was 52 days, ranging from 5 to 163 days.
CONCLUSION:
Grade I intracranial hemorrhage from the germinative matrix was the most frequent. No differences were found between cases and controls for the variables studied. The small number of infants submitted to transfontanellar ultrasonography limited the sample size and the results of the study.
Intracranial hemorrhages; Infant, premature; Delivery, obstetric; Brazil