In preparing the fourth edition of our textbook, we have incorporated the newest data regarding the pathophysiology and cellular and molecular bases of neonatal encephalopathy. We have added the most recent data depicting the emergence of newer and promising forms of therapy, including the results of randomized clinical trials using hypothermia.

We have added two new editors for this edition, Dr. Maurice L. Druzin, who is the Chief of Maternal Fetal Medicine at Stanford University, and Susan R. Hintz, an Associate Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Neonatal and Developmental Medicine. Dr. Druzin has reorganized the section on obstetrical factors that can contribute to fetal and neonatal brain injury and has recruited new contributors for this endeavor. Dr. Hintz, who has provided leadership in prenatal counseling and is the Director of our new Center for Comprehensive Fetal Health, has also focused on outcome studies in various disease processes in the neonate, and recruited new contributors to provide additional outcome data and recommendations.

We have added several new chapters, including ones addressing pregnancy-induced hypertension, HELLP syndrome and chronic hypertension, complications of multiple gestation, neurogenic disorders of the brain, pathogenesis of white-matter injury in the preterm infant, neonatal stroke, assessment and management of infants with cerebral palsy, the long-term outcome of neonatal events on speech, language development, and academic achievement, as well as the neurological outcome of infants with neonatal encephalopathy.