Intracranial Hemorrhage Due To Vitamin K Deficiency in Infancy: Clinical and Radiological Findings

This retrospective study presents clinical and radiological findings and outcomes of 25 infants with intracranial hemorrhage due to vitamin K deficiency and evaluates the risk factors.Two of the infants (8%) were classical type and the others were late onset. Of the patients, 18 (72%) were male and 7 (28%) were female. Twenty four infants (96%) were being fed exclusively on breast milk. Eighteen of them (72%) had not received vitamin K prophylaxis at birth. The most disabling clinical symptoms were vomiting (44%) and convulsions (40%). The most common presentations were bulging fontanel (40%) and paleness (40%). Eleven patients (44%) showed intracranial hemorrhages at more than one site. Intraparenchymal hemorrhage was the commonest (68%) type of hemorrhage. Twelve of cases (57%) were developmentally normal. Mortality rate was 8%.Late type is frequently associated with intracranial hemorrhage particularly intraparenchymal. Lack of administration of vitamin K at birth to breastfeed babies is the most important risk factor for intracranial hemorrhage.