Pathological Findings in Prematures. Very little careful work has been done with reference to the pathological changes in the premature infant. In the second group are those fully developed and normal for their fetal age. One is often amazed at the life energy of these prematures, in view of the high grade pathological changes in the various organs, especially the hemorrhages into the brain and spinal cord. The gastro-intestinal canal.
Intracranial hemorrhages are especially important.
In the skull there are subarachnoidal or intrapial hemorrhages, while in the spinal column they are extradural. Ventricular hemorrhages are frequently found in prematures, but hemorrhage into the brain substance proper is quite rare. High-grade edema of the pia is, as a rule, also present along with these intracranial hemorrhages. Bacteria easily settle in the injured brain membranes and meningitic processes are not uncommon. The condition spoken of in the literature as hydrocephalus of the premature, has, as a rule, nothing to do with hydrocephalus.