Objective To investigate the risk factors of cerebral palsy in newborns with periventricular leukomalacia(PVL).Methods Sixty-one infants with sequela of cerebral palsy among 806 neonates born at the Second People'S Hospital of Liaocheng,Shandong,China,during December 2000 to November 2005 were studied for its etiology.Diagnosis of cerebral palsy in 26 of the 61 infants was established by type B ultrasonic scanning or magnetic resonance imaging(MRI)for the head at least twice and excluded of other diseases.Thirty-five infants without PVL hospitalized at the same hospital were enrolled as control group during the same period.Logistic regression analysis was performed for the risk factors of PVL. Results Twenty-six infants were diagnosed as PVL.accounting for 42.6％of those with cerebral palsy.Main high-risk factors of PVL included severe asphyxia(x3),low gestational age(x1),intraventricular hemorrhage(x14)and low blood pressure(x8),with odds ratios of 2.843,3.575,3.268 and 1.947,respectively,and a fitted regression model as logistic(P)=β0+0.7952 x3-1.428x1-1.328 x14+0.8256x8.Pregnant hypertension,neonate respiratory distress syndrome(NRDS),and intrauterine infection could also affect occurrence of PVL,all with statistical significance(P＜0.05).Conclusion PVL is one of main causes of cerebral palsy,with severe asphyxia,low gestational age,intraventricular hemorrhage and low blood pressure as main high-risk factors.