Intrauterine inflammation, cerebral oxygen consumption and susceptibility to early brain injury in very preterm newborns

Abstract

Although P/IVH is multifactorial in preterm newborns, it is likely that cerebral hypoxic-ischaemia plays a central pathophysiological role. These data provide a mechanistic insight into this process and suggests that the increased cerebral metabolic load imposed by the presence of inflammation results in a higher risk of critical hypoxic ischaemia in the preterm with increased susceptibility to significant P/IVH.