Abstract
The objective of this study was to determine whether intelligence and minor motor impairments in children who are born preterm without major disability are associated with cerebral white matter (CWM) and hippocampal abnormalities on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). A total of 103 preterm children were studied at age 7 y with detailed magnetic resonance brain scans, including a T2-mapping sequence from which T2 relaxation times of the CWM and hippocampal formations were calculated. All of the children had no major motor disability, attended normal school, and had undergone assessment of IQ and a test for minor motor impairment (MMI). Twenty children had visible lesions on MRI, which were associated with lower IQ and more frequent MMI. Mean (SD) IQ was 90 (14.1). Twenty-five children were shown to have MMI (Movement ABC at below the fifth centile). This group was shown to have significantly longer T2 relaxation times for CWM (mean difference 2.1 ms right, 3.1 ms left) but not the hippocampus than the children without MMI. These differences persisted when only children without visible lesions on scans were considered (mean difference 1.5 ms bilaterally). There was no significant correlation between IQ and T2 relaxation times. Children who are born preterm without subsequent major neurodisability may, in addition to visible lesions on MRI scans, have a diffuse abnormality of CWM, manifest as an increase in T2 relaxation time. This abnormality shows a close correlation with minor motor impairment but not with full-scale IQ.
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Abbreviations
- ABC:
-
movement ABC
- CWM:
-
cerebral white matter
- MMI:
-
minor motor impairment
- MRI:
-
magnetic resonance imaging
- PVL:
-
periventricular leukomalacia
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Acknowledgements
We thank Dr. Gillian Lancaster, Lecturer in Medical Statistics at the University of Liverpool, for statistical advice and Dr. Alexia Attard for assistance with data collection. Special thanks are due to G. Hughes, D. Garlick, J. Glynn, H. Tyrer, H. Roper, J. Fleming, and L. Dooley for skill and patience in performing the MRI scans and to the parents and children who gave their time to help in this study.
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This project was funded by Research Grant MC 010696 from the National Lottery Charities Board, U.K.
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Abernethy, L., Klafkowski, G., Foulder-Hughes, L. et al. Magnetic Resonance Imaging and T2 Relaxometry of Cerebral White Matter and Hippocampus in Children Born Preterm. Pediatr Res 54, 868–874 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1203/01.PDR.0000091285.84577.4E
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/01.PDR.0000091285.84577.4E
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