Intracranial irritation in the newborn: Immediate and long term prognosis.

Neonatal morbidity no less than neonatal mortality remains an outstanding paediatric problem. Numerous investigations have studied the frequency with which stillbirths and neonatal deaths are due to intracranial trauma. Much less that is reliable is known concerning the subsequent progress of infants who survive intracranial birth injury. A number of published studies deal with the clinical diagnosis of intracranial birth trauma, but only a small number deal with prognosis and an even more limited number with permanent sequelae. This paper summarizes clinical observations made in the course of a follow-up survey of 593 infants who were diagnosed as suffering from intracranial irritation following birth and who were subsequently kept under observation for periods varying from six months to five years or more.