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Licensed Unlicensed Requires Authentication Published by De Gruyter October 18, 2010

Expression of soluble Fas in the cerebrospinal fluid of preterm infants with posthemorrhagic hydrocephalus and cystic white matter damage

  • Thomas Schmitz EMAIL logo , Ursula Felderhoff-Mueser , Marco Sifringer , Floris Groenendaal , Susanne Kampmann and Axel Heep

Abstract

Perinatal brain damage may result in impaired neurological development in extremely preterm infants. The underlying pathophysiological mechanisms are complex, and biomarkers of prognostic value are not available. The aim of this study was to analyze soluble Fas (sFas) concentrations in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) representative for involvement of apoptotic processes in preterm infants developing posthemorrhagic hydrocephalus (PHHC) and to link them to white matter damage (WMD) diagnosed by cranial ultrasound. A total of 29 preterm infants with PHHC were included in the study; 17 of them had signs of cystic WMD (cWMD) on ultrasound examinations. CSF samples were obtained at first ventriculostomy, and results were compared to those of a reference group of 24 preterm and term infants without neurologic diseases. sFas concentrations were elevated in CSF samples of PHHC patients compared to the reference group. In patients with cWMD, sFas concentrations were significantly higher than in patients without cWMD. These results indicate that apoptosis via the Fas pathway is involved in the pathogenesis of cWMD in the context of PHHC, and that sFas in the CSF may serve as a marker of cWMD development.


Corresponding author: Thomas Schmitz, MD Department of Neonatology Children's Hospital Universitätsmedizin – Charité Campus Virchow Klinikum Augustenburger Platz 1 Berlin D-13353 Germany

Received: 2010-1-18
Revised: 2010-8-17
Accepted: 2010-8-18
Published Online: 2010-10-18
Published in Print: 2011-01-01

©2011 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin New York

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