Acquired Brain Injury in the Fetus and Newborn

Michael Shevell, Steven Miller, eds. Acquired Brain Injury in the Fetus and Newborn. London, United Kingdom: Mac Keith Press; 2012 (318 pages) ISBN 978–1-907655–02–9. (International Review of Child Neurology Series, published for the International Child Neurology Association).

The editors of this book, Acquired Brain Injury in the Fetus and Newborn, are well-known authorities with expertise in neonatal neurology: Michael Shevell is affiliated to the Montreal Children's Hospital, Quebec, Canada, and Steven Miller is affiliated to The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada. They present a multiauthored volume with up-to-date reviews provided by 38 internationally recognized clinician-scientists.

The book is divided into four sections with a total of 20 chapters. Section I, “The Fetus,” addresses a range of fetal pathologies as well as fetal imaging. Section II, “The Preterm Infant,” discusses general mechanisms of brain injury, diagnostic investigations (near-infrared spectroscopy, electroencephalogram [EEG], amplitude-integrated EEG, and imaging), seizures, and outcomes. Section III, “The Term Infant,” focuses on the mechanisms of neurodegeneration, clinical approach to term encephalopathy, imaging in hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy, seizures, and outcomes of brain injury. Section IV, Specialized Topics, is devoted to the following topics: “Neonatal neurology in the developing world”; “Perinatal stroke”; “Brain injury in newborn with congenital heart disease”; “Metabolic brain injury in the fetus and the neonate” (discussing Kernicterus, hypoglycemia, and hyperammonemia); “The nutritionally deprived fetus and newborn infant”; and “Ethical considerations in fetal and neonatal neurology.”

Thus, this volume, a part of the International Review of Child Neurology Series, focuses on “classical topics” such as hypoxia–ischemia, periventricular leukomalacia, other injuries in premature neonates, and imaging. I particularly enjoyed reading the chapters on outcomes and on infants with congenital heart disease. Neonatal infections (meningitis and encephalitis) and posthemorrhagic hydrocephalus are not covered, and fetal infections are summarized in one page. Overall, the volume comprises useful information for pediatric neurologists and neonatologists.