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Are hypertrophic astrocytes a sufficient criterion of perinatal telencephalic leucoencephalopathy?
  1. Alan Leviton,
  2. Floyd H. Gilles
  1. Department of Neurology, The Children's Hospital Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, U.S.A.
  2. Department of Pathology (Neuropathology), The Children's Hospital Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, U.S.A.
  3. The Department of Neurology-Neuropathology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, U.S.A.

    Abstract

    To determine if the presence of amphophilic globules (GL) in infant cerebral white matter was a necessary criterion of perinatal telencephalic leucoencephalopathy (PTL), the epidemiological features of infants who had PTL—that is, hypertrophic astrocytes and amphophilic globules (HA·GL)—in their cerebral white matter were compared with those of infants who had hypertrophic astrocytes, but who did not have amphophilic globules (HA·[unk]). Postmortem bacteraemia was seen much more frequently in infants with HA·GL than in infants with HA·[unk] (P<0·05). In addition, infants with HA·GL tended to die at older postnatal ages than infants with HA·[unk]. These observations are in keeping with the view that HA·GL and HA·[unk] are not epidemiologically identical. The operational definition of PTL therefore remains the occurrence of both HA and GL in infant cerebral white matter.

    https://doi.org/10.1136/jnnp.36.3.383

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      Footnotes

      • ↵1 This study was supported in part by funds provided by the United Cerebral Palsy Research and Educational Foundation (R-244-69), by the Program-Project Grant No. NSI-EP, 1 P01 NS 09704-01 NSPA, HD, NINDS, and The Children's Hospital Medical Center Mental Retardation and Human Development Research Program (HD 03-0773), NICHD.