OBJECTIVETo understand the clinical characteristics of hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) in full-term infants and to explore the value of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for the early prediction of HIE prognosis.

METHODSThe medical data, including histories, clinical manifestations, MRI findings and follow-up outcomes, of 348 full-term infants with HIE between January 2001 and December 2005 were retrospectively reviewed.

RESULTSHIE patients (348 cases) accounted for 8.25% of in-patients (4220 cases) over the five years. The etiology of HIE mainly attributed to birth asphyxia (76.2%), consisting of mild asphyxia (59.2%) and severe asphyxia (40.8%). A poor outcome was confirmed in 10.1% of these patients, including 27.3% in severe HIE, 10.0% in moderate HIE and 1.5% in mild HIE cases. All of patients whose MRI showed diffusion intraparenchymal hemorrhages and cerebral infarctions had poor outcomes. Fourteen (87.5%) out of the 16 cases with basal ganglia and thalamic or internal capsule injury and 9 (81.8%) out of the 11 cases with cytotoxic brain edema diagnosed by diffusion weighted imaging had poor outcomes.

CONCLUSIONSHIE is one of common diseases in newborn infants. The etiology of neonatal HIE mainly attributed to birth asphyxia, mild asphyxia accounting for a greater proportion. MRI findings can be helpful for the early prediction of HIE prognosis.