Periventicular leukomalacia

matusek · Newbie Joined: 10 May 2005 Posts: 20

I was reading some medical magazine and there I found this term Periventicular leukomalacia. There was written that is disease of brain tissue dieing. This sounds really scary to me. I couldn’t find anything more about this, and I would really like to know more. What is Periventicular leukomalacia actually and is there treatment for it?

sergent · Silver Member Joined: 08 Aug 2000 Posts: 278

Periventicular leukomalacia or so called PVL is characterized by the death of the white matter of the brain. It is due to softening of the brain tissue. It is not unusual to affect fetuses or newborns; premature babies are at the greatest risk of this disorder. It is caused by a lack of oxygen or blood flow to the Periventicular area of the brain. Off course this has to result with death or loosing of brain tissue. For better understanding of this, you should know what periventicular area is. That is area around the spaces in the brain called ventricles which contains nerve fibers that carry messages from the brain to the body’s muscles. Babies with Periventicular leukomalacia generally have no outward signs or symptoms, but they are on risk for motor disorders and coordination problems. There is no specific treatment for PVL. It is usually symptomatic and supportive treatment. Those children should receive regular medical screenings to determine appropriate interventions.

Periventicular leukomalacia

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