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Research Article| Volume 18, ISSUE 1, P53-66, January 1973

An epidemiologic study of perinatal telencephalic leucoencephalopathy in an autopsy population

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      Abstract

      Changes in the occurrence of perinatal telencephalic leucoencephalopathy (PTL) during a 3-year interval and the association of risk factors with PTL were studied in an autopsy population. The frequency of PTL in infants who died between the ages of 9 and 30 days was double that of older and younger infants. Marked variation in the annual frequency of PTL suggests that exogenous factors play an important role in the occurrence of PTL. Congenital heart disease, hyaline membranes, amniotic fluid aspiration, thoracotomy, laparotomy, cardiac catheterization, and pre-term birth were not associated with PTL. Post-mortem bacteremia was strongly associated with PTL. Since 85% of infants with both PTL and post-mortem bacteremia had Gram-negative organisms it is hypothesized that in certain instances PTL may represent the adverse effects of endotoxin on myelinogenesis or some other maturational process unique to infant white matter.
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