Article

Children born very preterm (<32wks' gestation) are at risk of white matter
injury, particularly in frontostriatal pathways that mediate executive
functioning. However, it is unclear whether very preterm children without
evidence of neonatal brain injury manifest long-term white matter microstructural
differences once they reach school age and if this is related to cognitive
impairments. METHOD: Twenty school-aged children born very preterm (11 males,
nine females; mean age 8y 6mo, standard error [SE] 1.68mo, range 7y 7mo-9y 6mo;
gestational age range 24-30wks, mean gestational age 26.9wks, SE 0.4wk;
birthweight 988 g, SE 46 g, range 570-1424 g) without evidence of neonatal brain
injury, and 20 sex- and age-matched term-born children (mean age 8y 4.8mo, SE
1.92mo; range 7y 2mo-9y-10.8mo) underwent neurodevelopmental assessment and
diffusion tensor imaging. RESULTS: Fractional anisotropy, mean diffusivity, axial
diffusivity, and radial diffusivity were calculated within all white matter
pathways and within frontostriatal projections. Children born preterm had
decreased fractional anisotropy in the territories of the left external capsule,
superior longitudinal fasciculus, uncinate fasciculus, and inferior
fronto-occipital fasciculus. Measures of intelligence were negatively correlated
with frontostriatal fractional anisotropy only in males born preterm.
INTERPRETATION: Results indicate that very preterm-born children exhibit white
matter disturbances that persist into middle childhood, with potential sex
differences in the association between these white matter alterations and
cognitive function.
CI - (c) 2013 Mac Keith Press.

Langue : ANGLAIS