Guide To The Causes And Risk Factors Of Periventricular Leukomalacia

Intraventricular Hemorrhage

An infant or unborn child affected by an intraventricular hemorrhage may develop periventricular leukomalacia as a complication of their emergent medical event. Intraventricular hemorrhage is a term used to describe when an individual experiences a bleed inside or around their brain ventricles. Brain ventricles are the spaces in an individual's brain filled with cerebrospinal fluid. Periventricular leukomalacia occurs when the white matter in the spaces between the individual's ventricles becomes damaged and can no longer produce the protective myelin sheath that covers the nerves. An intraventricular hemorrhage causes blood to flow into these spaces that put excessive pressure on the cells that make up the white matter, which causes them to become damaged beyond repair and die. Intraventricular hemorrhage-precipitated periventricular leukomalacia is most common in babies born prematurely. The exact reason for this is not clear, but it is thought the increased fragility of a premature infant's blood vessels leads to their increased risk of intraventricular hemorrhage.

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