Periventricular leukomalacia (PVL) is a form of white-matter brain injury, characterized by the necrosis (more often coagulation) of white matter near the lateral ventricles. It can affect newborns and  (less commonly) fetuses; premature infants are at the greatest risk of neonatal encephalopathy which may lead to this condition. Affected individuals generally exhibit motor control problems or other developmental delays, and they often develop cerebral palsy or epilepsy later in life. The white matter in preterm born children is particularly vulnerable during the third trimester of pregnancy when white matter developing takes place and the myelination process starts around 30 weeks of gestational age.This pathology of the brain was described under various names ("encephalodystrophy", "ischemic necrosis", "periventricular infarction", "coagulation necrosis", "leukomalacia," "softening of the brain", "infarct periventricular white matter", "necrosis of white matter", "diffuse symmetrical periventricular leukoencephalopathy"), and more often by German scientists, but the worldwide dissemination was the term periventricular leukomalacia, introduced in 1962 B. A. Banker and J. C. Larroche. The term can be misleading, as there is no softening of the tissue in PVL. V. V. Vlasyuk and V. P. Tumanov in 1985 published the worlds first monograph devoted to PVL. Vlasyuk (1981) first revealed the high incidence of optic radiation lesions and demonstrated that PVL - a persistent process that the old necrosis can join a new, foci of PVL may be at different stages of development. In the process of morphogenesis focuses PVL pass through three stages: 1) necrosis, 2) resorption, and 3) the formation gliosis scars or cysts.
Future treatments
Although no treatments have been approved for use in human PVL patients, a significant amount of research is occurring in developing treatments for protection of the nervous system. Researchers have begun to examine the potential of synthetic neuroprotection to minimize the amount of lesioning in patients exposed to ischemic conditions. Prognosis
The prognosis of patients with PVL is dependent on the severity and extent of white matter damage. Some children exhibit relatively minor deficits, while others have significant deficits and disabilities. Minor tissue damage
Minor white matter damage usually is exhibited through slight developmental delays and deficits in posture, vision systems, and motor skills. Many patients exhibit spastic diplegia, a condition characterized by increased muscle tone and spasticity in the lower body. The gait of PVL patients with spastic diplegia exhibits an unusual pattern of flexing during walking. Progression
Those patients with severe white matter injury typically exhibit more extensive signs of brain damage. Infants with severe PVL suffer from extremely high levels of muscle tone and frequent seizures. Children and adults may be quadriplegic, exhibiting a loss of function or paralysis of all four limbs. Cerebral palsy
Many infants with PVL eventually develop cerebral palsy. The percentage of individuals with PVL who develop cerebral palsy is generally reported with significant variability from study to study, with estimates ranging from 20% to more than 60%. One of the reasons for this discrepancy is the large variability in severity of cerebral palsy. This range corresponds to the severity of PVL, which can also be quite variable.