Pre-wallerian degeneration in the neonatal brain following perinatal cerebral hypoxia-ischemia demonstrated with MRI

Semin Perinatol. 2006 Jun;30(3):146-50. doi: 10.1053/j.semperi.2006.04.005.

Abstract

Aim: Pre-Wallerian degeneration was studied in term and near-term neonates with hypoxic-ischemic brain injury, and related to neurodevelopmental outcome.

Subjects: Thirty-nine surviving patients with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy or seizures and MRI-documented brain abnormalities were included. Patients were grouped according to the MRI findings: group 1 (n = 23), ischemic stroke or watershed infarcts; group 2 (n = 8), lesions of the basal ganglia; group 3 (n = 8), predominantly white matter lesions.

Methods: Cranial MRI, including diffusion-weighted MRI, was performed between 1 and 10 days after birth. ADC maps were created, and presence or absence of pre-Wallerian degeneration in the cerebral peduncles was assessed.

Results: Of the 15 neonates with pre-Wallerian degeneration, 14 had permanent abnormalities of motor development, whereas 1 had a transient asymmetry. Six neonates with a poor outcome had no pre-Wallerian degeneration, which may be contributed to the timing of the MRI in 2. Eighteen neonates had no pre-Wallerian degeneration and a normal motor development.

Conclusion: Pre-Wallerian degeneration of the cerebral peduncles in neonates with hypoxia-ischemia is almost invariably associated with a poor motor development. In neonates with abnormalities of the basal ganglia or white matter and a poor outcome, pre-Wallerian degeneration is less common than in neonates with stroke or watershed infarcts and a poor motor outcome.

MeSH terms

  • Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging* / methods
  • Humans
  • Hypoxia-Ischemia, Brain / complications
  • Hypoxia-Ischemia, Brain / diagnostic imaging*
  • Infant, Newborn
  • Infant, Premature / growth & development*
  • Infant, Premature, Diseases / diagnostic imaging*
  • Radiography
  • Wallerian Degeneration / diagnostic imaging*
  • Wallerian Degeneration / etiology