1427 ISOLATED CEREBRAL VENTRICULAR DILATATION (VD) OF LOW BIRTH WEIGHT (LBW) NEONATE AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE

VD is not an infrequent observation during an ultrasound (US) examination of the head in LBW newborns. Very little information is available with regard to its pathogenesis, evolution and significance. We studied 59 LBW infants who were identified as having VD [VD(+)] by the first cranial US examination (US #1) which was done during the immediate neonatal period (mean age 3.03 days) and compared with 59 wt and gestation matched controls without VD [VD(-)] who were selected with no knowledge of the result of US findings. US follow-up of the study and control infants are shown in the following tables (#, X+SEM): The isolated VD seems to have a relatively benign neonatal course. The higher incidence in white infants was unexpected and needs to be confirmed in a larger study.