Prenatal pseudocysts of the germinal matrix in preterm infants

Abstract

Sonographic characteristics of germinal‐matrix (PGM) pseudocysts of prenatal origin detected on cranial ultrasound in preterm newborns were correlated with their outcomes. PGM cysts were classified as typical or atypical, according to their location. Typical PGM cysts were present at the head of the caudate nucleus or slightly medially, adjacent to the foramen of Monro. Cysts were defined as atypical when they were located subependymally elsewhere. Only one infant of 16 with a typical PGM cyst presented with psychomotor retardation. His cerebral scan also showed subependymal calcifications due to cytomegalovirus infection. Three babies had cysts in the frontal periventricular zones (atypical PGM cyst). They had negative cranial MRI (12–15 months of age) and normal neurological follow‐up (24 months). In conclusion, isolated prenatal PGM cysts in preterm infants correlate with a normal outcome. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Clin Ultrasound 25:169–173, 1997

Newborn frontal horn cysts: cause for concern?

“…The information is based on case reports and case series. [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12] Further, the use of various terminologies to describe FHC including periventricular pseudocysts or cavitations, coarctation of the lateral ventricle or connatal cyst has resulted in significant heterogeneity in the way these lesions are classified.…”

“…The CUS were then screened and reported for the presence of FHC. All CUS of the study population were reviewed by one radiologist (SS) to confirm and monitor the 3 Case series 11 Preterm (9) NA Normal (7) Term (2) Delayed with seizure (1) Death (1) Lost to follow-up (2) Pal et al 5 Case series 21 Preterm (20) 0.72 Normal (13) Term (1) Diplegia (3) Death (6) a Rademaker et al 6 Case series 8 Preterm (5) 0.87 Normal (6) Term (3) Death (2) Ramenghi et al 7 Case report 3 Preterm (3) NA Normal (3) Sudakoff et al 9 Case series 7 29-36 weeks 0.48 Normal (4) Hypotonia (1) Hypertonia (1) Lost to follow-up (1) Thun-Hohenstein et al 10 Case report 3 38-41 weeks NA Normal (1) Delayed (2) (17) Death (10) Abbreviations: N, number of cases; NA, not available. a Outcome data from 1 infant who died at 1.9 years was included in the analysis.…”

“…2,3,[5][6][7][9][10][11] FHC are usually thin-walled cysts located at the superolateral angle of the frontal horn of the lateral ventricles, 13 can be unilateral or bilateral, and vary in size, shape and number. 5 They are usually noted on the first CUS and typically disappear over the first year of life.…”

“…Similarly, the outcomes reported vary from normal neurodevelopment in the majority of the cases to muscle tone abnormalities, cerebral palsy and developmental delay with or without seizures (Table 1). 2,3,[5][6][7][9][10][11] Discordant results in the literature could be due to biases in research design such as case reports or case series, inclusion of either term or both term and preterm population in most studies, 2,3,5,6,10,12 inclusion of infants with other CUS abnormalities without a similar comparator group (controls), number of infants lost to follow-up 2 and the potential confounding effect of preterm gestation on neurodevelopment outcome. In the only case-control study published to date, Wong et al 11 compared growth and neurodevelopmental outcomes in 10 infants with and without isolated paraventricular cysts.…”

Timing of injury in utero causing respiratory inhibition after crying

“…Previous studies have attempted to investigate the cause and significance of cranial ultrasound abnormalities identified at birth, including subependymal cysts, choroid plexus cysts, and ventricular enlargement. However, no risk factors associated with the development of these ultrasound abnormalities have been identified 4–6 …”