The role of MRI in evaluating vascular causes of nonhypoxic–ischemic neonatal encephalopathy

Abstract

Background Neonatal encephalopathy (NE) is a clinical syndrome characterized by abnormal neurobehavioral status of the newborn. Aim This study was conducted to evaluate the role of MRI in identifying vascular causes of NE. Patients and methods The study was conducted on 50 full-term neonates admitted to the neonatal ICU at Alexandria University Children’s Hospital with clinical picture suggestive of encephalopathy. MRI examinations were performed on a 1.5-T General Electric (GE) machine. Results In the current study, the causes of non-hypoxic–ischemic encephalopathy NE were categorized into six groups, each group displayed specific MRI features. P value was calculated, and the results revealed that MRI was successful in reaching the final diagnosis with P value of 0.045, confidence interval 95%, and RRF=1.385. Conclusion Those with vascular insults had 1.39 times the rate of reaching a final diagnosis compared with those with nonvascular insults.