MR-patterns of brain’s hypoxic-ischemic lesions in term newborns

Perinatal hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) remains a major cause of neonatal mortality and development of severe neurological disorders that determine the quality of life of these children. In developed countries, the frequency of detection of hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) among full-term newborns is 1-6 per 1.000 live births. In our country, hypoxic-ischemic brain damage is observed in 15-30% of full-term newborns. The term HIE is a clinical diagnosis combining neurological disorders and biochemical changes caused by perinatal HI (hypoxiа-ischemia). The pattern of acute brain damage depends on the degree of cerebral maturity, the severity and duration of hypoxiа-ischemia. The most vulnerable regions are the structures of the brain with high level of metabolism. Such structures in term infants include cortical neurons and neurons of basal nuclei, a subcortical white matter. MRI allows to diagnose brain lesions in term infants in the acute period of HIE. Safety, non-invasiveness and large diagnostic capabilities of MRI allow this method to be considered the gold standard of neuroimaging in neonatology. In this review we described the main MRI patterns of brain injury in term neonates following HIE.