Some things you can do to try to prevent intraventricular hemorrhage are to prevent premature birth from occurring if possible to allow the baby enough time in the womb to mature fully.
Although sometimes babies come before they are fully mature, no matter what you try.
If early delivery of the baby is not avoidable, then doctors can give antenatal corticosteroids to the mother and the specialized newborn intensive care unit or NICU can reduce the risk and severity of intraventricular hemorrhage.
Administering the steroids also known as antenatal corticosteroids to the mother before a premature delivery of the baby, which often is given between 24 to 34 weeks of gestation, will strengthen the baby's developing blood vessels and lungs, which lowers the risk of intraventricular hemorrhage.
And giving birth at a hospital that is equipped with a Level III or IV Neonatal Intensive Care Unit or ICU also prevents the need for any dangerous transport procedures after the baby is born.
Delaying the clamping of the baby's umbilical cord for 30 to 60 seconds after birth also helps stabilize the baby's blood volume and blood pressure and maintaining a stable and normal body temperature in the newborn, immediately after birth is also crucial to avoid any cardiovascular stress.
Another name for intraventricular hemorrhage is intraventricular bleeding.
In premature babies, intraventricular hemorrhages are also called a germinal matrix intraventricular hemorrhage or brain bleed.
The intraventricular hemorrhage or IVH refers to blood pooling in the brain's fluid filled cavities and so it's also medically called and known as hemocephalus.
Intraventricular hemorrhages are pretty common in premature infants, but less common in adults and babies that are born mature and healthy.
Intraventricular hemorrhages are the most common neurological complication in premature babies, and affects up to 45 percent of extremely low birth weight babies, although intraventricular hemorrhages are quite rare in adults, where it almost always occurs as a complication of a larger stroke or trauma.
In premature infants, or premature babies, the bleeding with an intraventricular hemorrhage often occurs within the first 72 hours of life.
The risk of the intraventricular hemorrhage is inversely proportional to gestational age and occurs in around 15 percent to 20 percent of all preterm babies.
In adults, intraventricular hemorrhages accounts for only 3 percent of all atraumatic brain hemorrhages and it's much more common for intraventricular hemorrhages to occur as a secondary event when an older adult experiences an intracerebral hemorrhage or a ruptured aneurysm and around 45 percent of spontaneous brain hemorrhages extend into the ventricles.
Symptoms of intraventricular hemorrhages in adults include sudden and severe headaches, confusion, loss of consciousness, nausea, vomiting or neurological deficits.
Treatment for intraventricular hemorrhages in adults requires immediate neurological intervention in an ICU or intensive care unit, to control the intracranial pressure, manage blood pressure and drain excess blood or cerebrospinal fluid.
Intraventricular hemorrhages, while less common in adults than infants, is considered a medical emergency with high mortality risks.
Intraventricular hemorrhages in adults often occurs as a complication of a hemorrhagic stroke or ruptured aneurysm or a severe traumatic brain injury.
The most common site of origination for an intraventricular hemorrhage on the age of the person with the intraventricular hemorrhage as the site of the intraventricular hemorrhage can vary depending on the age and also neurological development.
In adults, intraventricular hemorrhages are often secondary, which means that the intraventricular hemorrhage in adults begins outside of the ventricles and extends inwards and often originated from intracerebral hemorrhages like in the thalamus or caudate nucleus or even vascular abnormalities like arteriovenous malformations and aneurysms.
In term infants, intraventricular hemorrhages most commonly originates from the choroid plexus.
And in premature infants, the bleeding an intraventricular hemorrhage often originates in the germinal matrix, which is a highly vascular and fragile network of blood vessels that are located near the lateral ventricles.
An intraventricular hemorrhage is bleeding that occurs inside or around the ventricles, which are the fluid filled cavities within your brain.
Intraventricular hemorrhages are most common in premature infants, although intraventricular hemorrhages can also affect adults after severe strokes, traumatic brain injuries and aneurysms.
Intraventricular hemorrhages are also mainly categorized by the severity of the bleeding and how it also affects the surrounding brain tissue.
In Grade 1 intraventricular hemorrhages, bleeding is confined to a small area within the germinal matrix.
In Grade 2 intraventricular hemorrhages, the bleeding extends into the ventricles, although they are not enlarged.
In Grade 3 intraventricular hemorrhages, the ventricles become enlarged and swollen as a result of the presence of blood.
And in Grade 4 intraventricular hemorrhages, the bleeding extends into the brain tissue directly surrounding the ventricles.
Intraventricular hemorrhages are a major complication that can occur in premature babies, most particularly babies that are born before 32 weeks of gestation and weighing less than around 3.5 lbs.
The cause of the intraventricular hemorrhages in premature infants is the blood vessels in the developing brains of preterm babies are prone to rupture due to being extremely fragile.
And nearly all infant cases of intraventricular hemorrhages occur within the first couple of days of life.
The symptoms of the intraventricular hemorrhages in babies and premature babies include pauses in breathing or apnea, decreased muscle tone, seizures, a weak suck or bulging soft spot.
Treatment for intraventricular hemorrhages in premature babies involves managing the babies blood pressure, supportive care in the NICU, and monitoring the baby for fluid buildup in the brain also known as hydrocephalus.
Grade 1 and Grade 2 intraventricular hemorrhages often resolve without any long term brain damage, and severe grades of intraventricular hemorrhages like Grade 3 and Grade 4, may require surgery like shunts or ventricular drains.