Early and late germinal matrix hemorrhage may have different antecedents.

The time of occurrence of germinal matrix hemorrhage (GMH) in preterm babies might convey information about risk. We compared the risk profile of babies whose GMH was evident on a cranial ultrasonogram before the 12th postnatal hour (i.e., early GMH) to that of babies whose GMH did not become evident until after that time (i.e., late GMH). Overall, the two groups were similar. Babies with early GMH, however, were more likely to have been born after a course of labor (p = 0.03), for the first measurement of arterial blood pH to have been less than 7.2 (p = 0.02), and to have received bicarbonate (p = less than 0.00001). These findings lend support to the view that the risk profiles of early and late GMH are not identical, and also to the view that intranatal and immediate postnatal factors contribute to the early onset of GMH in susceptible babies.