MASSIVE ADRENAL HAEMORRHAGE IN THE NEWBORN BY

Intra-abdominal haemorrhage in the newborn is a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge; the site of the haemorrhage is commonly the liver or adrenal, rarely the other organs. (Lundquist, 1930; Potter, 1940; Henderson, 1941). If the haemorrhage is profuse it may lead to rupture of the capsule of the organ and intraperitoneal haemorrhage. In the case of adrenal haemorrhage in the newborn most authors have concentrated on post-mortem findings, many of the infants being stillborn. The first reported case to be successfully treated was that of Corcoran and Strauss (1924). Since then eight other surviving infants in whom adrenal haemor-rhage was diagnosed have been described and these cases are tabulated (Table 1). The following case report describes an infant suffering from haemorrhage into the adrenal with rupture of the capsule and intraperitoneal extension of the haemorrhage. From a review of the literature this would appear to be the first newborn infant to survive this complication. Twenty-five similar cases which ended fatally are tabulated for compariso