Most important predisposing factor for the pictured condition is: <image 1>
['2nd trimester hypoxic/ischemic event', 'Nuchal cord', 'Premature birth', 'Sepsis', 'Placental abruption']
The photomicrograph illustrates a hemorrhage within the subependymal germinal matrix. Germinal matrix hemorrhages are seen most commonly in low birth weight preterm infants and are hypothesized to result from a failure of autoregulation of cerebral blood flow in preterm infants resulting in postpartum hemorrhages (Ellison and Love, Neuropathology, 1998, pp 2.5-2.9, Prayson, Neuropathology, 2005, pp147-153).