Brain Injury in the Premature Infant: Current Concepts

The magnitude of the problem of brain injury in the premature infant, and particularly the prevention of that injury, is enormous. Approximately 50,000 infants are born yearly in the United States with a birthweight < or = 1,500 g. Approximately 85% of these infants survive, and of the survivors, approximately 5-15% exhibit major spastic motor deficits, grouped under the rubric "cerebral palsy," and an additional 25-50% exhibit less prominent development disabilities, particularly school failure. Moreover, epidemiological studies show that in recent years the prevalence of cerebral palsy in infants of low birth weight, i.e., birth weight < or = 1,500 g, has increased, probably as a secondary result of the ever increasing survival rates for these fragile small infants.