Intracranial haemorrhage in infants

Intracranial haemorrhages are important causes of morbidity and mortality in infancy. They can affect the extradural and subdural spaces, subarachnoid space and intracerebral/intracerebellar compartments. Although the actual diagnosis of a haemorrhage may not be difficult to make, it is important to be able to correlate the findings to the appropriate clinical setting. This is particularly important in the medicolegal setting, in which interpretation of the presence of intracranial haemorrhage can be controversial. This review will describe the causes and appearances of the various haemorrhages, and will discuss some of the important practical points in their diagnosis.