1 Department of Pediatrics, Indiana University School of Medicine Indianapolis, Indiana 46202
Prod'hom et al.1 presented their results concerning the quality of survival of newborns with respiratory distress. They found 7 of 355 patients with hydrocephalus or porencephaly, apparently secondary to an intracranial hemorrhage. They conclude "it seems fully justified to stop all reanimation practices including mechanical ventilation, once the diagnosis of ventricular or subarachnoidal hemorrhage has been made."
Most physicians caring for sick newborns would agree that massive intraventricular hemorrhage in the newborn almost always results in death or severe long-term neurologic impairment.