Abstract

Introduction: Intracranial hemorrhage in infants is associated with several factors. This has allowed different studies to report different levels of it. Therefore, further studies are required in order to arrive at reliable and common risk factors.

Objective: Evaluating the risk factors associated with cerebral hemorrhage in the newborns admitted to the neonatal and neonatal intensive care units.

Materials and Methods: In this descriptive prospective study, hospitalized infants with ultrasound and CT brain indication, including all preterm infants and neonates with symptoms such as seizures, loss, unexplained anemia, hypoglycemia were enrolled. To diagnose intracranial hemorrhage, ultrasound and CT. Scan were used in the days 3, 7, 14, 28 (discharge days), based on doctor discretion. Follow up for 6 months was performed by a neurologist and data were analyzed by SPSS software version 17.

Results: The percentage of cerebral hemorrhage was 1.13 and 30.51 in neonates less than 35 weeks of gestational age (P=0.001). Cerebral hemorrhage in delivery by NVD method was 8.8% and in delivery with C/S was 3.5% (P=0.001). Comparing distributions of the Apgar score, the percentage of cerebral hemorrhage in neonates with Apgar scores more than 7 was 1.8% and Apgar score below 3 was 66.7 (p<0.0001). In this study, birth weight (P = 0.001) and head circumference (P = 0.005) as well as the need for mechanical ventilation (p <0.0001) were risk factors and predictors of cerebral hemorrhage.

Conclusion: The results showed that low birth weight, gestational age below 35 weeks, lower head circumference, and receiving mechanical ventilation in neonates can be significant risk factors for the occurrence of cerebral hemorrhage. Also, neonates who were born through NVD method, or needed to revive at birth, and have lower Apgar scores had significantly more prevalent brain hemorrhage.