Gerber S Hohlfeld P 2003 INTRODUCTION Fetal brain injury is an essential cause of lifelong morbidity. Infection appears as a cause of brain damage. Apart from chorioamnionitis, screening for infectious diseases must be considered in pregnancies with a risk of congenital infection or cases with abnormal cerebral ultrasound findings. DISCUSSION Congenital infections include most of the major components of the TORCH complex: toxoplasmosis, rubella, cytomegalovirus, herpes, and varicella. Seronegative mothers can develop primary infection, which carries a risk of vertical transmission. The timing of the infection is a critical point, because fetal damage often depends on the gestational age at which acute maternal infection took place and occurs more likely in the first half of pregnancy. Antenatal ultrasound can detect brain abnormalities, like hydrocephalus, periventricular leukomalacia, calcifications or hemorrhage. Maternal serologic tests must be performed to look for an infectious etiology; the most frequent agents are the components of the TORCH complex. But additional serology must include parvovirus B19, HIV, and coxsackieviruses. application/pdf https://sonar.ch/global/documents/189501 eng info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1007/s00381-003-0766-5 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/pmid/12811485 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Child's nervous system : ChNS : official journal of the International Society for Pediatric Neurosurgery. - 2003 Brain Injuries Chickenpox Cytomegalovirus Female Fetal Diseases Herpesvirus 1, Cercopithecine Humans Mass Screening Pregnancy Pregnancy Complications, Infectious Rubella Time Factors Toxoplasmosis, Congenital Ultrasonography, Prenatal Screening for infectious diseases. http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501