Contralateral Cerebral Infarction Following Vacuum Extraction

Cerebral infarction is a rare complication following a vacuum-assisted delivery occurring on the side of the vacuum application and often accompanied by a cephalhematoma. We report a case of cerebral infarction that was contralateral to the side of the vacuum application in a term baby. The baby presented with seizures in the immediate neonatal period. There was no fracture of the skull to account for a contusion injury. We discuss the mechanisms of intracranial vascular injuries during the process of natural and assisted birth.

KEYWORDS

Cerebral infarction - contralateral - vacuum

REFERENCES

• 1 Farquharson R, Quenby S, Greaves M. Antiphospholipid syndrome in pregnancy: a randomized, controlled trial.  Obstet Gynecol. 2002;  100 408-413
• 2 Sibai B M, Mirro R, Chesney C M, Leffler C. Low-dose aspirin in pregnancy.  Obstet Gynecol. 1989;  74 551-557
• 3 Govaert P, Vanhaesebrouck P, de Praeter C. Traumatic neonatal intracranial bleeding and stroke.  Arch Dis Child. 1992;  67 840-845
• 4 Roessmann U, Miller R T. Thrombosis of the middle cerebral artery associated with birth trauma.  Neurology. 1980;  30 889-892
• 5 Remillard G M, Ethier R, Andermann F. Temporal lobe epilepsy and perinatal occlusion of the posterior cerebral artery. A syndrome analogous to infantile hemiplegia and a demonstrable etiology in some patients with temporal lobe epilepsy.  Neurology. 1974;  11 1001-1009
• 6 Choy C M, Tam W H, Ng P C. Skull fracture and contralateral cerebral infarction after ventouse extraction.  Br J Obstet Gynaecol. 2001;  108 1298-1299