What Are The Symptoms Of Periventricular Leukomalacia?

Low Heart Rate

Individuals with periventricular leukomalacia may experience a low heart rate (bradycardia) due to the underlying damage done to the white matter tissues in their brain. This symptom typically occurs early on in the disease process because it can also be part of the causative action that produces periventricular leukomalacia. Periventricular leukomalacia happens due to a brain injury that causes the tissues in the brain to become deprived of blood and oxygen in the time before, during, or after the individual's birth. The mechanism by which caused the ischemic injury to the brain may have influenced the ability of the heart to pump blood effectively to the brain. In other cases, the injury happens as the result of a noncardiac related mechanism but produces bradycardia episodes due to a natural compensative process. The body naturally has certain programmed mechanisms that are activated when things go wrong in the body. One of these autoregulatory mechanisms involves increasing the flow of blood to the brain at the expense of the muscle tissues, including those of the heart. This autoregulatory mechanism can be inappropriately triggered in perventricular leukomalacia patients, resulting in episodes of low heart rate.

Read more about the major symptoms of periventricular leukomalacia now.