Patient's question:
My son was born three days ago via C-section and weighs 7.5 pounds. All his health indicators are normal. In the afternoon of the day he was born, we noticed a small hematoma on the right side of his head. The doctor said to wait and see for two days, and it hasn't grown. A CT scan revealed mild hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy. Do we need to treat it? Thank you.Doctor's answer:
I've never heard of neonatal hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) being diagnosed solely based on a single CT scan. Can doctors ignore clinical symptoms? At least there should be signs like irritability or seizures before considering this. You can ask your attending physician if the child has any clinical symptoms.Secondly, the child was doing well at birth and was full-term. The medical history shows that the risk factors for HIE are not high. Therefore, I think the diagnosis should be questioned. The low-density lesions seen on the CT scan—MRI seems to provide a clearer view. It should be considered a follow-up procedure in the future to monitor for ventricular enlargement or white matter softening.