Perinatal brain damage: porencephaly in a cynomolgous monkey

An infant monkey exhibited the clinical evidences of severe brain injury following birth. It was blind, partially deaf and showed severe motor disabilities. Postmortem brain examination at 1½ years of age revealed bilateral porencephalic defects centered well within the supply territories of the middle cerebral arteries. Other foci of injury suggestive of asphyctic brain damage appeared in the remaining, better preserved tissues. It is proposed that such porencephalic defects result from zones of cerebral necrosis and liquifaction of intermediate size produced by <i>in utero </i>fetal asphyxia. The body and organ growth retardation associated with the severe perinatal brain injury is also briefly described.