Obstetricians and pediatricians in daily practice will find here the answersand explanations they need concerning the major problem of perinatal asphyxia. Leading experts in pediatrics, obstetrics and neurophysiology havecome together to produce a single sourcebook covering all aspects of thesubject. Biochemical mechanisms and clinical aspects of perinatal asphyxia, fetal and neonatal assessment, and perinatal management are thoroughly discussed. Neurodevelopmental outcome is another important issue addressed. In light of newer technologies, the prognosis of infants suffering from asphyxia is examined. Many figures and typicalcases are provided, making the book easy to use and providing quick access to solutions. The reader can easily identify a problem in the fetus and its subsequent development. With such knowledge, the improved managementof perinatal asphyxia is made possible.

There has been increasing interest in neonatal neurology, especially since imaging techniques were introduced in the neonatal ward. Looking at the natural history of imaging techniques, we can identify three main axes of its development. Logically, it was first essential to image the brain morphologically. For this purpose, computed tomography was initially used, followed by ultra sound. However, to improve the quality of the images, magnetic resonance imaging was introduced. Major features of ultrasound and magnetic reso nance imaging are their safety and lack of ionization. Morphological imaging techniques have proved to be insufficient to ex plain the mechanisms underlying CNS injuries. Thus, it was essential to develop functional techniques to assess cerebral hemodynamics and oxy genation. The use of Doppler ultrasound, PET scanning, SPECT scanning and, more recently, NIRS have widened our knowledge of general neurolog ical problems. Finally, to achieve our goal of attaining a better understanding of CNS injuries, it is important to assess cerebral cellular metabolism. Magnetic resonance spectroscopy was introduced to achieve this goal. We hope that this book links these different techniques in order to widen our horizon. The future is promising and bound to provide further develop ments, which however can only be understood if we grasp the present level of development.